Clinical and radiographic evaluation of bowlegs

Lower extremity bowing is a normal physiologic process that commonly occurs in walking children under the age of 2 years. After this age, any signific ant amount of residual bowing is abnormal and may be due to infections, tra umatic physeal injuries, genetic predisposition, metabolic factors, or a co mbination of these. Of the pathologic conditions, infantile Blount's diseas e is the most common and is predominantly found in obese children with an e arly onset of walking. Because of its frequency in occurrence and general t endency for spontaneous resolution, physiologic genu varum must be clearly distinguished from other pathologic processes that result in bowleggedness. Treatment of the latter cases may consist of early bracing or surgery. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.