Perthes Disease - an unknown childhood hip bone disease

I was diagnosed with Perthes Disease in 1976 when aged 8 years old. My son was diagnosed with Perthes Disease when he was 5 years old. This is a rare disease whereby there is inadequate blood supply to the femoral head (round part of the hip bone). The femoral head dies and is reabsorbed by the body. After a period of time (months to years) the disease progresses through 4 stages. There is no known cause for this disease and treatments are many and varied and all trial and error. Long term prognosis is varied and is determined by the regrowth shape of the femoral head.

My pain presented in my knee as did my son’s. In fact it was referred pain from our hips. If your child has a limp and complains of a sore knee, please consider that it may in fact be a hip problem and have it checked out thoroughly. The earlier this disease is caught the better the long term result will be for your child. I suffer from osteoarthritis and need a total hip replacement. Interestingly, this disease is more common in boys than girls and generally under the age of 5.

I recently took my son to Camp Perthes Australia in Queensland where he spent a week with 28 other children from around Australia & NZ with Perthes Disease. This camp is run by American “Survivor” winner, Earl Cole, who had Perthes Disease as a child. He created Perthes Foundation and is now running camps around the world to bring children with this rare disease together. It was an amazing experience as a Mum of a child with Perthes Disease and also having been through many surgeries, traction and full body plaster myself with my Perthes journey.

Posted by mundoo, 11th October 2017