Normal radiological unossified hip joint space and femoral head size development during growth in 675 children and adolescents

Evaluation of hip joint space width during child growth is important to aid in the early diagnosis of hip pathology in children. We established reference values for hip joint space and femoral head size for each age. Hip joint space development during growth was retrospectively investigated medial and cranial in 1350 hip joints of children using standard anteroposterior supine plain pelvic radiographs. Maximum capital femoral epiphysis diameter and femoral radii were further more investigated. Hip joint space values show a slow decline during growth. Joint space was statistically significantly (p < 0.006) larger in boys than girls. Our hip joint space measurements on supine subjects seem slightly larger than those reported by Hughes on standing subjects. Evaluation of the femoral head diameter and the radii showed a size curve quite parallel to the known body growth charts. Radii medial and perpendicular to the physis are not statistically significantly different. We recommend to compare measurements of hip joint space at two locations to age dependent charts using the same imaging technique. During growth, a divergence in femoral head size from the expected values or loss of the spherical shape should raise the question of hip disorder. Clin. Anat. 30:267–275, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.