A prospective multicenter study of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease: functional and radiographic outcomes of nonoperative treatment at a mean follow-up of twenty years.

BACKGROUND: Long-term studies have indicated good outcomes for most patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. However, clinical experience suggests that less favorable outcomes are common. We sought to prospectively document pain and function in a cohort of adults who had previously been treated nonoperatively for Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. METHODS: Patients in our region with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease were enrolled between 1984 and 1991 as part of a multicenter prospective trial and were treated with hip range-of-motion exercises or bracing. Patients returned for physical examination, radiographs, and completion of outcome measures including the Nonarthritic Hip Score (NAHS) and the Iowa Hip Score (IHS). RESULTS: Fifty-six patients (fifty-eight hips) were examined at a mean of 20.4 years (range, 16.3 to 24.5 years) after enrollment. The mean NAHS was 79 (range, 35 to 100), and the mean IHS was 74 (range, 43 to 100). Three patients had required hip arthroplasty and one patient had required a pelvic osteotomy. Fourteen (26%) of the remaining hips had no hip osteoarthritis, sixteen (30%) had mild osteoarthritis (Tönnis grade 1), and twenty-four (44%) had moderate or severe osteoarthritic changes on radiographs (grade 2 or 3). Femoroacetabular impingement indicated by physical examination was associated with pain and with poorer outcomes on the IHS and the NAHS (p = 0.0004, 0.0014, and 0.0007, respectively). The Stulberg classification was significantly associated with impingement on physical examination (p = 0.0495), the NAHS (p = 0.003), and the Tönnis grade (p = 0.012). Multivariate logistic regression showed that only the Stulberg classification was significantly associated with the NAHS (p = 0.0032); the odds ratio for a Stulberg type of I or II compared with IV or V in patients with a fair or poor NAHS was 0.101 (95% confidence interval, 0.018 to 0.573). CONCLUSIONS: Pain, arthritis, and ongoing hip dysfunction are common in patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease that was treated nonoperatively. Hips rated as Stulberg type III or IV more frequently had poor or fair outcomes on the IHS and NAHS (61% and 72% for type III and 77% and 60% for type IV). Patients with a lateral pillar type of B, B/C, or C frequently had pain and radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis. Clinical signs of femoroacetabular impingement were associated with pain and with lower functional scores. This prospective study establishes a modern benchmark for outcomes following nonoperative, weight-bearing treatment of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease.

Kinematic and kinetic outcomes after identical multilevel soft tissue surgery in children with cerebral palsy.

This study evaluates the outcomes of multilevel soft tissue surgery in 31 ambulatory children (n = 39 sides) with cerebral palsy. All children had undergone rectus femoris transfer, hamstring lengthening, and gastrosoleus lengthening for the purpose of correcting sagittal plane abnormalities. There were no simultaneous bony surgeries. Preoperative and postoperative evaluation consisted of clinical assessment and gait analysis, including 3-dimensional kinematics and kinetics. Results demonstrated improvements in knee and ankle function. At the knee, there was a decrease in mean flexion at initial contact (from 31 degrees [SD, +/-8 degrees] to 21 degrees [SD, +/-10 degrees]) and in stance (mean stance, 22 degrees [SD, +/-12 degrees] to 16 degrees [SD, +/-11 degrees]) associated with a decreased mean internal extensor moment in stance (from 0.09 Nm/kg [SD, +/-0.24 Nm/kg] to -0.03 [SD, +/-0.22 Nm/kg]). At the same time, knee flexion was preserved in swing and occurred earlier. At the ankle, mean dorsiflexion improved at the time of examination (from 8 degrees [SD, +/-9 degrees] to 14 degrees [SD, +/-11 degrees] with the knee in extension), in terminal stance (peak from 7 degrees [SD, +/-9 degrees] to 12 degrees [SD, +/-8 degrees]), and in swing. Peak ankle power generation in stance was preserved and shifted later in stance toward push-off, with no functional weakening of the ankle plantar flexors. A longer-term assessment of a subset of patients with a second postoperative gait analysis at a mean of 4 years after surgery showed that gains measured at 1 year were maintained during the longer term. A subgroup demonstrating a jump knee gait pattern (as defined by excessive knee flexion at initial contact followed by rapid knee extension to full knee extension in midstance) had a tendency to go into knee hyperextension in stance with resultant net knee flexor moment after surgery. This raises concern about the indications for hamstring lengthening in this patient group.