[Dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica].

The Authors present 9 patients affected by Dysplasia Epiphysealis Hemimelica with a mean follow-up of 11 years (range 5 years-21 years). The Authors confirm the benignity of the disease and report the variability of the clinical evolution of this rare type of osteochondrodysplasia. Besides cases with spontaneous evolution characterized by no clinical evidence of the disease, there are cases that require surgical removal of the osteochondromas and, sometimes, corrective interventions because of axial deviations and/or limb discrepancy.

[Surgical limb lengthening in patients of short stature. Indications, complications and results].

Purpose Of The Study: The authors report their experience in limb lengthening in 55 patients with short stature.

Materials And Methods: Surgical treatment must begin at the age of 13-15 years to obtain better collaboration from the patient which is necessary to obtain a good result. The general indication for surgery includes short stature between 110 and 150 cm.

Surgical treatment of Legg-Calve-Perthes disease.

Thirty-two patients (out of 52 undergoing surgery) with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCP) were examined retrospectively to assess the efficacy of surgical treatment on epiphyseal morphology at the primary healing. The analysis of the clinical results of the 33 hips considered indicated that it is necessary to operate above all on 3rd grade hips. For these the most frequent operation indicated is osteotomy of the pelvis.

Hip deformity and dislocation in spina bifida.

A group of 118 patients with spina bifida treated between 1960 and 1988 was reviewed with a focus on the problem of hip deformity and dislocation. Deformity can be avoided by physical therapy and correct posture. Hip dislocation often occurs in cases of high or mid-lumbar lesions; at lower levels subluxation is more common.

The modified Wagner method for surgical lengthening of the limbs.

The method proposed by Wagner in 1971 for surgical lengthening of the limbs was widely used by the authors for the treatment of dysmetria and (since 1976, for the first time in Italy) for disharmonic hypometria. The limitations of this method were revealed, however, by increasing knowledge in this field and the advent of new biological concepts of bone regeneration. The authors report 51 lengthenings carried out between 1982 and 1987 according to their own modification of the Wagner method.