Does thrombophilia play arm aetiological role in Legg-Calve-Perthes disease?

Heritable thrombophilic disorders have been proposed as one of the causes f or Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. A total of 62 patients diagnosed with this d isease between 1988 and 1997 and 50 controls were screened for thrombophili a. The incidence and relationship of thrombophilia to the severity of the d isease were evaluated. One patient and none of the controls had protein S deficiency. One of the c ontrol group and one of the patients had protein C deficiency with the latt er child also having a combined deficiency with a mutant factor V gene. The number of children with a mutant factor V gene, protein C deficiency, w ho were homozygous for the C 677T polymorphism of methylenetetra-hydrofolat e reductase or were heterozygous for mutant G20210A prothrombin did not dif fer statistically in the study and the control groups. No patient had antit hrombin deficiency or positive lupus anticoagulant. We found no correlation between thrombophilia and the extent of the disease . The most common risk factors for arteriovenous thromboembolism showed no statistical significance in our patients compared with the control group or with the general population. These data do not confirm an aetiological rol e for thrombophilia in Perthes' disease.