[Roentgenologic stages of Perthes disease]

Not only for giving the diagnosis "Perthes' disease" but also with regard to prognostic statements the knowledge of the radiological stages of Perthes' disease is essential. The present treatise demonstrates the radiological course of Perthes' disease, how it results from the evaluation of the courses of illness of 116 patients, which were treated in the period from 1965 to 1980 at the Orthopedic University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf because of a genuine Perthes' disease. The following schema turned out to be appropriate to the assessment: I. Initial stage, I a Early period, I b Late period. II. Florid stage, II a Sclerosing period, II b Fragmental period, II c Osteolytic period. III. Stage of regeneration. IV. Final stage.