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Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE)
SCFE is a hip disease of early adolescence (10 to 15 years old), characterized by idiopathic posterior and inferior slippage of the capital femoral epiphysis on the femoral neck metaphysis.
Complications include avascular necrosis of the femoral head or chondrolysis.
Anteroposterior and frog-leg views of both hips should be obtained because the condition can be bilateral in 40% of cases.
On the frog-leg view, a normal epiphysis projects superior to the Klein line, which is drawn along the superior surface of the femoral neck. In early SCFE, the epiphysis is flush with this line.
How is SCFE treated?
Treatment goals include the prevention of further slippage and physeal plate closure. SCFE may be treated with internal fixation, bone graft, osteotomy, or cast immobilization. There is no attempt to reduce the slip because this may cause avascular necrosis.
