Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease and the risk of injuries requiring hospitalization: a register study involving 2579 patients

Gait Compensation among Children with Non-Operative Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease: A Systematic Review

Perthes disease is a condition that affects walking patterns in young children due to poor blood circulation in the hip joint. Understanding the gait strategies of affected children is of great importance for an objective assessment and better management of this condition. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current literature to identify gait compensation patterns in non-operative children with Perthes disease.

METHODS

A systematic electronic search was performed using MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, BIOSIS, and the Cochrane Library to identify studies published from inception up until December 2023. An adapted Downs and Black checklist was utilised to assess methodological quality and project risk of bias. Percentage agreement and nominal kappa statistics with bootstrapped bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used.

RESULT

A comprehensive literature search revealed 277 citations for review, of which 210 studies entered full-text screening. In total, eight studies met the inclusion criteria for quality assessment by two independent reviewers. The results revealed variations in data quality, with scores ranging from 12 to 17 due to missing information related to subject characteristics, biomechanical model, and power calculation.

CONCLUSIONS

This review reveals common compensation strategies associated with walking among non-operative children with Perthes disease such as Trendelenburg gait due to weakness of the hip abductor muscle.

Aetiology of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD) is a clinical condition affecting the femoral head of children during their growth. Its prevalence is set to be between 0.4/100000 to 29.0/100000 children less than 15 years of age with a peak of incidence in children aged from 4 years to 8 years. LCPD aetiology has been widely studied, but it is still poorly understood.

AIM

To analyse the available literature to document the up-to-date evidence on LCPD aetiology.

METHODS

A systematic review of the literature was performed regarding LCPD aetiology, using the following inclusion criteria: studies of any level of evidence, reporting clinical or preclinical results and dealing with the aetiology or pathogenesis of LCPD. Two reviewers searched the PubMed and Science Direct databases from their date of inception to the 20th of May 2018 in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. To achieve the maximum sensitivity of the search strategy, we combined the terms: ‘‘Perthes disease OR LCPD OR children avascular femoral head necrosis” with “pathology OR aetiology OR biomechanics OR genetics” as either key words or MeSH terms.

RESULTS

We include 64 articles in this review. The available evidence on LCPD aetiology is still debated. Several hypotheses have been researched, but none of them was found decisive. While emerging evidence showed the role of environmental risk factors and evidence from twin studies did not support a major role for genetic factors, a congenital or acquired predisposition cannot be excluded in disease pathogenesis. One of the most supported theories involved mechanical induced ischemia that evolved into avascular necrosis of the femoral head in sensible patients.

CONCLUSION

The literature available on the aetiology of LCPD presents major limitations in terms of great heterogeneity and a lack of high-profile studies. Although a lot of studies focused on the genetic, biomechanical and radiological background of the disease, there is a lack of consensus on one or multiple major actors of the etiopathogenesis. More studies are needed to understand the complex and multifactorial genesis of the avascular necrosis characterizing the disease.

Is Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease a Local Manifestation of a Systemic Condition?

BACKGROUND

Osteochondrosis includes numerous diseases that occur during rapid growth, characterized by disturbances of endochondral ossification. One example, Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, is characterized by disruption of the blood supply to the femoral head epiphysis, and a systemic etiology often has been suggested. If this were the case, secondary osteochondroses at locations other than the hip might be expected to be more common among patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, but to our knowledge, this has not been evaluated in a nationwide sample.

QUESTIONS/PURPOSES

(1) Do patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease have an increased prevalence of secondary osteochondroses at locations other than the hip? (2) Is the concept of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease a systemic etiology supported by a higher prevalence of the metabolic diseases obesity and hypothyroidism?

METHODS

We designed a retrospective population-based cohort study with data derived from the Swedish Patient Registry (SPR). The SPR was established in 1964 and collects information on dates of hospital admission and discharge, registered diagnoses (categorized along the International Classification of Diseases [ICD]), and applied treatments during the entire lifetime of all Swedish citizens with high validity. Analyzing the time span from 1964 to 2011, we identified 3183 patients with an ICD code indicative of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease and additionally sampled 10 control individuals per patient with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, matching for sex, age, and residence, resulting in 31,817 control individuals. The prevalence of secondary osteochondroses, obesity, and hypothyroidism was calculated separately for patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease and control individuals based on the presence of ICD codes indicative of these conditions. Using logistic regression analysis, we compared the adjusted relative risk of having either of these conditions develop between patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease and their matched control subjects. The mean followup was 26.1 years (range, 2.8-65 years).

RESULTS

The prevalence of secondary osteochondroses was greater among patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (3.11%) than among control subjects (0.31%), resulting in an increased adjusted risk of an association with such lesions in the patients (relative risk [RR], 10.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.7-13.6; p < 0.001). When stratified by sex, we attained a similarly increased risk ratio for females (RR, 12.5; 95% CI, 6.1-25.8; p < 0.001) as for males (RR, 9.9; 95% CI, 7.3-13.5; p < 0.001). Patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease had an increased adjusted risk of an association with obesity (RR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.9-4.0; p < 0.001) or hypothyroidism (RR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.7-3.8; p < 0.001) when compared with control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, this is the first population-based description of a robust association of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease with osteochondroses at locations other than the hip, and we also found increased risk estimates for an association with obesity and hypothyroidism in patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. Our findings strengthen the hypothesis that Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease is the local manifestation of a systemic disease, indicative of an underlying common disease pathway that requires further investigation. Physicians should be aware that patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease may present with secondary osteochondroses and metabolic comorbidities.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III, prognostic study.

Unilateral infective sacroiliitis in a boy presenting with a limp

A 9-year-old boy admitted to a district general hospital with a 1-week history of fever and a 2-day history of right hip pain. Initial workup revealed raised inflammatory markers and unremarkable imaging studies. After clinical review, there was minimal improvement of the patient's condition 5 days after presentation; therefore, an MRI of the pelvis/hips was carried out, which supported a clinical diagnosis of right-sided infective sacroiliitis. Infective sacroiliitis is rare and only represents 1%-2% of septic arthritis in children. The condition still remains a diagnostic challenge first due to poor localisation of symptoms with referred pain to the hip, thigh and lower back and second due to a lack of awareness by non-specialist clinicians. Early diagnosis is a key to avoid sequelae such as an abscess, degenerative changes of the sacroiliac joint and can be achieved by a thorough clinical examination, monitoring inflammatory markers and MRI.

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease and the risk of ADHD, depression, and mortality

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Hyperactive behavior pattern (such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)) is proposed to be present in individuals with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD). We investigated whether individuals with LCPD have a higher risk of ADHD, depression, and mortality.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

We identified 4,057 individuals with LCPD in Sweden during the period 1964-2011. 40,570 individuals without LCPD were randomly selected from the Swedish general population and matched by year of birth, sex, and region (control group). We used Cox proportional hazard regression to estimate the relative risks.

RESULTS

Compared to the control group, individuals with LCPD had a raised hazard ratio (HR) of 1.5 (95% CI: 1.2-1.9) for ADHD. The risks were higher for female individuals (HR = 2.1, CI: 1.3-3.5) than for male individuals (HR = 1.4, CI: 1.1-1.8). Individuals with LCPD had a modestly higher hazard ratio for depression (HR = 1.3, CI: 1.1-1.5) than the control group. Furthermore, individuals with LCPD had a slightly higher mortality risk than the control group (HR = 1.2, CI: 1.0-1.4) INTERPRETATION: Individuals with LCPD have a higher risk of ADHD. Hyperactivity could expose the femoral head to higher mechanical stress and contribute to the etiology of LCPD. The higher risk of depression may be due to the burden of LCPD itself or could reflect neurobehavioral aspects of ADHD changing into depression later in life. Individuals with LCPD have a higher mortality risk, with higher risk of suicide and cardiovascular diseases.

Evolution in diagnosis and treatment of Legg-Calve-Perthes disease

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD) is an idiopathic osteonecrosis of the femoral head with variable complications and resultant deformity of the femoral head and osteoarthritis. Suggested risk factors are acetabular retroversion, obesity, latitude, hyperactivity, and coagulopathy. The most commonly applied classification is based on radiolucency in the lateral pillar of the femoral head, which is strongly correlated with the outcome. In the fragmentation stage of the disease involvement can be classified into three groups. After skeletal maturity, the outcome can be classified using the Stulberg classification based on the sphericity and congruence of the femoral head in relation to the acetabulum. The early goal of treatment is to prevent head deformation by weight transmitted forces during remodeling and ossification stages containment is the widely accepted principle of treatment. Although the Petrie cast still has a role in the short-term treatment of LCPD before and during the reossification stage, available data does not support additional benefits from braces during the course of LCPD.

[Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD). Principles of diagnosis and treatment]

BACKGROUND

The clinical course of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD) is variable. Diagnosis, nonsurgical and surgical methods of treatment have evolved over many decades, from abduction casts and braces to advanced surgical containment methods which are now the mainstay of treatment.

METHODS

This article presents a general view and a critical evaluation of the literature.

RESULTS

The main prognostic factors are patient age at the onset of LCPD, the range of motion and the extent of the necrotic process according to the classification of Herring and Catterall. The main aims of surgical and nonsurgical treatment of LCPD are to prevent prearthrotic deformity of the femoral head, relief of symptoms, containment of the femoral head and restoration of congruence of the hip joint.

CONCLUSIONS

Each patient needs to be evaluated individually. Every child must receive an adapted treatment and continued follow-up at regular intervals.

Clinical outcome of femoral osteotomy in patients with legg-calve´-perthes disease

BACKGROUND

Legg-Calve´-Perthes disease is a juvenile idiopathic osteonecrosis in which the blood supply of femoral head is not sufficient and the bone dies provisionally. The aim of this study is to evaluate outcome of Femoral osteotomy in children with LCPD in our University Hospital.

METHODS

In a descriptive analytic study, between 2008 and 2013, patients with the diagnosis of Legg-Calve'-Perthes confirmed with lateral pillar classification of B and B/C were entered and patients were encouraged to come to an outpatient clinic for follow-up. Descriptive analysis of the demographics was performed and relation between variables was tested using a two-sided Student's t test with statistical significance set at 0.05.

RESULTS

Mean age of patients was 9±1.3 years, with the range of 4 to 12 years old. 25 patients (86.2%) were male and 4 patients (13.4%) female. There was no positive family history in patients. 17 patients (58.6%) had history of trauma. Duration of symptom presentation was 7±6.3 months, with the range of 3 to 36 months. In 20 of patients (69%) left hip and in 12 (41.4%) right hip was involved. There was significant relation between femoral head asymmetry, trochanter enlargement (P=0.04), acetabolum changes (P<0.001), femoral neck shortening (P<0.001). There was no relation between age (P=0.28) and duration of disease (P=0.8) with femoral neck shortening.

CONCLUSION

Intertrochanteric osteotomy led to improvement in pain, limping and increased range of motion. Subluxation before surgery is one of the criteria, which could influence further prognosis. Acetabulum changes and femoral neck shortening are two factors seriously affect hip ROM.