Editorial Commentary: Quantifying Anterior and Lateral Acetabular Coverage in Hip Dysplasia: What About Posterior Coverage?

When evaluating the young adult with hip pain, proper radiographic examination and interpretation are the cornerstones of the diagnostic process because the symptomatology and physical findings can be nonspecific. Although most orthopaedic surgeons are able to identify the key radiographic parameters of acetabular dysplasia, too often the patient is categorized into the "borderline" category; unfortunately, this has led to misdiagnosis and ultimately mistreatment. Because acetabular dysplasia is a 3-dimensional deformity, the assessment of anterior and posterior coverage (i.e., anterior and posterior wall indexes) in addition to the lateral coverage (i.e., lateral center edge angle) must be integrated in our radiographic measurements.