Help with Perthe's disease

Hi all, looking around on the net for help with Perthe's disease. My family seem to all have a 'bung' hip and the variation of pain is a lot. My older aunts have problems, I have a problem. My concern is that recently an ortho surgeon told my older brother (who is to have a bilateral hip operation at 38) that his hips were probably a mild Perthe’s disease. My son had a lot of problems when younger.

He had a few episodes of what he called "broken legs' whenever he tried to move or walk he collapsed in pain. Once he narrowly missed surgery as the doctors thought he had an infection in his hip. He recovered movement at the last minute and was spared surgery, but they ended up calling it transient something or rather, and didn’t look any further. In view of my brother’s recent information and the years of pain he had gone through up until now, I wanted to know if this Perthe’s was likely family recurrent.

My son’s second bout of 'broken legs' was shorter and not as dramatic but I live in fear of the next episode, or the possibility of childhood arthritis. He is now 7. He was low birth weight and premature, he is now a rather large and active child. Should I pursue this problem (the hip thing in general) I am terrified that by his 20's like my brother, he will be very restricted in movement. argg,

thanks, a worried mother

Hi,
A hip x-ray should confirm whether the problem is Pethe's. If the blood supply to the head of the thigh bone has been compromised, the ball of the thigh bone may start to alter in shape,m and not fit the joint correctly. With the family history, it is important to have the corrct treatment. I suggest you obtain an x-ray, and if confirmed, seek advice from a paediatric expert. Other hip joint diseases can cause problems in children, so a diagnosis is needed before treatment is instituted.
Perthe's causes are unknown, but can be more common in families, but this does not mean that someone with a family history will necessarily develop the problem. What causes the disease to be expressed or not is unknown.
Hope the above helps. The sooner the disease is treated, the better the results.
Regards,
MrPhysio+