The Epidemiology and Demographics of Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis
Figure 2
The two different methods of assessing SCFE severity. (a) The amount of displacement of the epiphysis relative to the metaphysis. A mild SCFE is defined as epiphyseal-metaphyseal displacement <1/3 the width of the metaphysis; a moderate SCFE 1/3–1/2; a severe SCFE as >1/2 [23]. In this case the SCFE is mild. The position of the epiphysis in a moderate SCFE is represented by the solid semicircle and in a severe SCFE by the hatched semicircle. (b) The lateral epiphyseal shaft angle measurement as described by Southwick [25] on the frog lateral radiograph. The frog lateral radiograph of the case in Figure 1 is shown. Both the normal hip (nl) and SCFE hip (SC) are measured. Line 1 is the line between the anterior and posterior physis, line 2 is a perpendicular to line 1, and the intersection of line 2 with an axial line along the shaft of the femur (line 3) is the epiphyseal shaft angle. The slip angle is calculated by subtracting the epiphyseal shaft angle of the normal hip from the slip side. Those less than 30 degrees are considered mild, between 30 and 50 degrees moderate, and greater than 50 degrees severe. The severity of the SCFE is the lateral epiphyseal shaft angle of the normal hip subtracted from the SCFE hip. In this example the slip angle is 25°–10° or 15°.
