[Congenital dislocation of the hip: an osteo-neural growth disturbance (author's transl)]

Congenital dislocation of the hip may be readily explained as the result of the osteo-neural growth-in-length disproportion. The theoretical concept is supported by experimental findings in frog tadpoles with "congenital" dislocation of the knee joint produced by osteolathyrogenic diet. In cleared specimens with selective staining of the nervous trunks according to Williams (1943) a growth inhibition of the sciatic nerve responsible for the proximal shift (dislocation) of the tibia may be noted. The tibia is adapted to the growth peculiarities of the sciatic nerve in an essentially similar way like the bony neurocranial capsule to the growing brain. The suggested pathogenetic mechanism appears to apply even to the congenital dislocation of the hip in man.