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Controversies in Blount’s Disease

  • Chapter
Pediatric Lower Limb Deformities

Abstract

Since the description of childhood (“infantile”) and adolescent idiopathic (usually) progressive varus deformity of the proximal tibia by Blount (J Bone Joint Surg. 29:1–29, 1937) and Langenskiöld (Acta Chir Scand. 103(1):1–22, 1952), relatively little progress has been made to understand the etiology of either condition. Although both forms are often referred to as (infantile and adolescent) Blount’s disease, the conditions share little except for varus deformity of the proximal tibia. Radiographic appearance, the extent of epiphyseal and physeal distortion, secondary and adaptive radiographic deformities, short- and long-term natural history, and conservative and surgical treatment options may differ distinctly between the two conditions. The one current clinical feature that they often share is patient obesity, which complicates treatment, if not actually causes or accelerates the primary deformity.

In this chapter, we review the radiographic and clinical features of both conditions, their natural histories, and advances and current options and controversies in conservative and surgical management of infantile and adolescent Blount’s disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of orthopedics, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, 2222 Welborn Street, Dallas, TX, 75219, USA

    John G. Birch MD, FRCS(C)

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  1. John G. Birch MD, FRCS(C)
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Correspondence to John G. Birch MD, FRCS(C) .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor, Department of Orthopedics; Chief, Division of Pediatric Orthopedics, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, USA

    Sanjeev Sabharwal

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Birch, J.G. (2016). Controversies in Blount’s Disease. In: Sabharwal, S. (eds) Pediatric Lower Limb Deformities. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17097-8_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17097-8_27

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-17096-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-17097-8

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