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Annual rate of change by age 10 may predict incidence of leg-length discrepancy
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Among pediatric patients with congenital disorders who initially presented with leg-length discrepancy of less than 2 cm, investigators of this study found the occurrence of clinically significant leg-length discrepancy may be predicted by the yearly rate of leg-length discrepancy change in patients’ first 10 years.
Using clinical records and radiographs, researchers retrospectively reviewed 21 patients with congenital leg-length discrepancy. Eleven patients with 25 mm or more of leg-length discrepancy were categorized as having significant discrepancy, and 10 patients with less than 25 mm of discrepancy were categorized as having minor discrepancy. Overall, the mean age at first examination was 3.1 years. Patients had a mean age of 11.3 years at the latest examination.
Computed radiography was used to measure the length of the femur and tibia in each limb. Twelve patients underwent surgery for leg-length discrepancy, while nine patients were conservatively managed.
The mean leg-length discrepancy was 11 mm at the first examination and 22.9 mm at the latest examination. Investigators found no statistically significant differences between the significant and minor groups for leg-length discrepancy at the first and subsequent follow-up visits.
According to results of a linear mixed-effects analysis, the annual rate of leg-length discrepancy change in the significant group was 2.1 mm compared with 1.3 mm for the minor group. ‒ by Monica Jaramillo
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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