Legg-Calvé-Perthes' disease

Legg-Calvé-Perthes' disease is characterised by a phenotype of short stature, delayed bone age, and hyperactivity.

Although several aetiologies have been proposed, a multi-factorial involvement is most likely.

Typically unilateral, though bilateral involvement is present in 10% of cases.

Clinical features include a limping gait and hip pain frequently radiating into the thigh, knees, groin, or buttocks. Pain worsens during activities.

Treatment is age-dependent. Options include mobilisation and monitoring, non-surgical or surgical containment, or salvage procedures.

A self-limiting disease of the femoral head comprising necrosis, collapse, repair, and re-modelling that presents in the first decade of life and is more commonly seen in boys. The cause is hypothesised to be single or multiple vascular events, followed by re-vascularisation. In later life, it can lead to a painful and poorly functioning hip. The disease was first described independently by Jacques Calvé, Arthur T. Legg, and Georg Perthes in 1910.