SEQUELAE FROM SEPTIC ARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE DURING THE FIRST 2 YEARS OF LIFE

Fifty septic knees in patients younger than 2 years old at diagnosis w ere examined. Follow-up ranged from 1.1 to 21.3 years (average, 6.2). Twenty-four knees were deformed in varus or valgus of 5-40 degrees. De formity was present within 10 months of infection and thereafter was s table. It was due to displacement of the epiphysis into a metaphyseal defect, loss of epiphyseal cartilage, or both. Growth did not compensa te for deformity. Ossific nuclei partly or completely disappeared afte r infection. They were slow to reappear, and until maturity, their siz e and shape did not represent the cartilaginous epiphysis. Arthrograms were necessary to evaluate accurately the epiphyseal shape and volume .