Calcifications of the hip in infants and children. New cases and long-term follow-up.

10 cases of calcification of the peripheral cartilaginous contour of the femoral head in infants are reported. In 7 cases calcification were discovered by chance at a radiological examination done for another purpose. In 3 cases the examination was done for limp or pain in the hip. In this material are included the long term follow-up of the first 4 cases reported by one of us in 1968. The follow-up in our series ranges from a few months to 15 years. The clinical sequelae are minimal at the moment: slight decrease of abduction and internal rotation. The radiological follow-up shows a slow disappearance of calcification, a premature fusion of the physis, a coxa magna, a broadening and shortening of the femoral neck. These residual radiological anomalies, in spite of a good clinical state at the moment, are worrying for future of these hips. The etiology is unknown, but these calcifications are acquired and there are good reasons to think they are iatrogenic, probably secondary to an inadvertent injection into the hip joint at the time of an intravenous femoral infusion of a drug toxic for the hip cartilage. It seems reasonable to avoid the femoral route for intravenous infusion of drugs in newborns and infants.