[Role of echography in the screening of congenital hip luxation at a maternity department].

Ultrasound was established as a remarkable means of recognizing dysplasia of hips or dislocations in the neonatal period following the work of R. Graf and later in France of H. Gomes and J. Schirrer et al. All the same, different techniques have been suggested and the role of the examination has been debated. Those who advocate routine screening of all pregnancies are in opposition to those who employ it selectively in cases that are known to be abnormal or at risk. The authors report a study carried out in their maternity department using ultrasound of the hip as an examination complementary to clinical screening. Echography has been shown to be able to give more information than radiography of the pelvis which cannot usefully be employed for screening until the age of 4 months. In 1781 newborns examined consecutively the indication for ultrasound of the hip was suggested in 201 cases (11%) and showed an abnormality in 42 patients (21% of the examinations carried out). Exenteration in 2, dysplasia in 8, failure to ossify correctly in 25, and endoscopic laxity without a morphological abnormality in 7 cases. The clinical signs that were used to predict an abnormality on ultrasound were: feminine sex. Clinical appearance of instability and the association of 2 risk factors. 3 cases of dislocation were found. Two of them occurred early and one at the age of 5 months who was a girl delivered by the breech and in whom a delay in ossification was noted at birth.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)