IMAGING OF DEVELOPMENTAL DYSPLASIA OF THE HIP

The purposes of this review are to help readers better understand hip dysplasia and to give specific guidelines as to how imaging aids in th e diagnosis and follow-up of children suspected of or known to have de velopmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). Congenital dysplasia of the hi p was the term formerly used to describe hip dysplasia in the young in fant and child. The preferred description is now DDH, reflecting that not all dysplasia is present at birth.(7,13,19) In recent years variou s medical organizations have suggested this change in nomenclature to more accurately describe the pathogenesis of hip dysplasia. Some child ren truly develop DDH after birth during the first months of life (Fig . 1). This change in terminology helps eliminate the blame placed on p ediatricians or neonatologists who performed the neonatal hip examinat ion of a child later found to have DDH.