Musculoskeletal Imaging

Coxa valga

a deformity of the hip caused by an increase in the neck-shaft angle of the femur, which in severe cases can lead to subluxation or dislocation of the hip. This deformity occurs in numerous disorders, including cleidocranial dysplasia, hereditary multiple exostoses, Hunters syndrome, juvenile chronic arthritis, meningomyelocoele, Niemann Pick disease, Morquios syndrome, and poliomyelitis. It results from weakness of the abductor muscles, which leads to reduction in the growth stimulus to the growth plate in the trochanter and the isthmus of the femoral neck. As a consequence, the longitudinal growth plate continues to lengthen the femoral neck in such a manner that valgus angulation occurs. See progeria (III:1), Fig. 1.

DR