[Disease picture of dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica]

Dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica - an epiphyseal developmental disturbance of the skeleton - is combined with exostose-like, tumor-simulating cartilaginous hypertrophy of bone tissue, mainly located at the epiphyses of the lower extremities and at the tarsal bones. In the case of multiple involvement the unilateral type prevails (hemimele type); within the epiphyses it is mostly the medial part which is undergoing changes. Rare sites are patella, head of the hip bone, shoulder joint, carpalia, more commonly affected are talus as well as other tarsal bones, distal femoral epiphysis and proximal and distal tibial epiphysis. Histologically, dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica is identical to cartilaginous exostosis. Bone formation is taking place by enchondral ossification (epiphyseal osteochondroma). The ratio between male and female is 3:1. As a rule, this disease becomes manifest in early childhood or adolescence by indolent swellings of the joint region, restricted movement, axis shift, sometimes by differences in the length of the legs. Therapeutic guidelines are not unanimous. On one hand, correction osteotomy is not recommended until the completion of growth, while on the other hand excision of the cartilaginous hypertrophy in early childhood (before the age of 4) is postulated. Since there are less than 100 cases described in literature, another 8 cases of this extremely rare disease are to be presented here.