Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease.

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease affects children, mostly boys, in the age range of 3 to 12 years. Severity and duration are quite variable. Catterall's classification of disease according to degree of femoral head involvement is of real prognostic value. Other factors of prognostic importance are loss of motion, metaphyseal cysts, subluxation and extrusion, and involvement of the epiphyseal plate, all of which are associated with poor results. Patients with Catterall group I involvement require no specific treatment as long as motion is normal. For patients under 6 years of age with group II involvement, specific efforts to contain the femoral head do not appear to bb indicated. In all other patients, maximum effort should be made to achieve containment of the femoral head and maintain full range of motion. Surgery has been used for reconstruction and as an alternative method of containment.