Congenital dislocation of the hip in the newborn. A correlation of clinical, roentgenogrhic and anatomical findings.

This study correlates roentgenography, arthrography, morbid anatomy and histology in four newborn infants with congenital dislocation of the hip. Three died shortly after birth. In two of these, manipulative reduction was impossible. Both demonstrated secondary adaptive changes at autopsy, indicating that the dislocation had been present for some time in utero. The first had a paralytic dislocation (meningomyelocele), and the second showed no pathologic findings other than the dislocated hip. The third infant had a dislocation that was reduced at birth. The child died of pneumonia on the 15th day. At autopsy, no secondary adaptive changes were found in the hip. The fourth infant, who had undergone open reduction because of a dislocation irreducible at birth, was retrospectively found to have an intrauterine dislocation when the maternal roentgenogram was reviewed. Significant secondary adaptive changes were noted at the time of operation.