Legg-Calvé-Perthes (L.C.P.) disease in the light of recent findings

In Legg-Calvé-Perthes (L.C.P.) disease, histological and histochemical investigations have revealed, in the proximal epiphysis of the femur, areas of abnormal cartilage containing nutrient vessels for the ossific nucleus which appeared to be obliterated. The epiphyseal cartilage also exhibited different histochemical characteristics from normal cartilage and appeared to be more attenuated. These observations lend further support to Ponseti's hypothesis (1956), namely that necrosis of the cephalic nucleus is only one of the anomalies of the cartilage of the proximal femoral epiphysis. In the light of these and other histopathological findings, the authors discuss the most recent clinical, therapeutic and prognostic findings relative to L.C.P. disease.