Ultrasonographic study of the coexistence of muscular torticollis and dysplasia of the hip

The consistent relationship between congenital muscular torticollis and dys plasia. of the hip is now widely accepted. However, the coexistence rate of these two disorders has been reported with variations from 0 to 20%. To ob tain a more accurate coexistence rate, ultrasound scanner was used as the d iagnostic tool for both of these disorders. Sixty-three children (30 boys and 33 girls) younger than 6 months who had u ndergone ultrasound scanning of both bilateral sternocleidomastoid muscle a nd bilateral hips were included in this study. Forty-seven children were co nfirmed to have muscular torticollis, and the remaining 16 cases were diagn osed as postural torticollis. Only these 47 cases were included for analysi s of the coexistence rate. Eight children were found with dysplasia of the hips associated with muscular torticollis, which included Graf's type IIa f or four hips, type IIb for two hips, type ma for one hip, and type IIIb for one hip. From the results of the present ultrasonographic study, the coexi stence rate of congenital muscular torticollis and dysplasia of the hip was concluded to be 17%. If only those dysplastic hips (type IIb, Illa, IIIb) that required treatment were included, the coexistence rate would be lowere d to 8.5%.