Posted by Suzanne Bowers on October 08, 2003 at 18:16:09:
In Reply to: Re: my son -- prognosis & treatment posted by Tom on June 11, 2003 at 05:39:21:
: I had leg perthese when I was 7 and I am now 52 years old. Treatment does not seem to have changed much over the years. I was in a brace for 2 years and was very active. As soon as I was out of the brace I played all kinds of sports and did pretty much what I wanted and I too had some soreness and walked with a slight limp. The only long-term results I have had are that my right leg is slightly shorter than my left and my right foot is a half size smaller than my left. I only have a noticeable limp when I am really tired. As an adult I find so far that the effects have diminished with age. I play golf, snow and water ski, fly an airplane, walk, bowl, pretty much do anything I want. The last prognosis I had was that my hip was as in good a shape as if I had just had a hip replacement - in other words leave it alone unless you fall and break your hip. In terms of the way different Doctors treat differently I believe this stems from the fact that they still do not know that much about the disease and that different children respond differently to different treatments. The bottom line is that for the most part, it is a short-term disease that only causes minimal long-term
: effects. Most of the time I have to be reminded that I ever had the disease
: : My son is 7 & has had perthes for 4 yrs. His treatment so far has been non-intrusive --- he had a bit of traction & had an atlanta brace at night for a year. We don't restrict his activities, and he is really active. Lately (it's baseball season) he's been limping a lot, and his hip is sore most of the time.
: : 1 -- does anyone know why some doctors treat perthes more agressively? Anyone know of any research studies available that tie outcome to treatment?
: : 2. His healthy leg is more muscular around the knee/calf, and is longer. Is this normal? Once his perthes plays out will the perthes leg strengthen & catch up at all with the other leg? Will the limping stop? Or is he destined to limp for years to come unless he has surgery?
: : thanks very much.