Prospective Rod Diameter Prospective Pediatric Kyphosis Study Prospective Study of Deformity Management and Pulmonary Function in Early Onset Scoliosis The Chest Wall and Spine Deformity Registry MRI Analysis of Kyphosis Assessing Outcomes in Children with Neuromuscular Disease Prospective Pediatric Scoliosis Study CT Analysis of Pedicle Screw Placement in Pediatric Patients and Related Quality of Life Issues Treatment of Congenital Idiopathic Clubfoot with the Ponseti Method Past Studies Recent Publications Center for Orthopaedic Research at Columbia University Upcoming Past

Past Studies

The Epidemiology of Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis: An Update

• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusion

Introduction:

Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE) is the most common adolescent hip disorder. Untreated cases can lead to loss of motion, pain and arthrosis (the most common form of arthritis). The purpose of our study is to investigate the national incident rate and demographics of Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE) utilizing newly-available national pediatric discharge data. While a number of previous investigations have explored issues related to the epidemiology of SCFE, this study is the first to truly characterize SCFE incident rates on a national level.

Methods:

The Kids In-patient Databases (KID), reflecting 7,300,000 pediatric discharges in 2000 and 6,700,000 pediatric discharges in 1997 were utilized to estimate the number of SCFE's that occurred in children 9-16 years of age. Pediatric demographics were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau in order to generate incidence rates based on age, race, gender, and region.

Results:

The national incidence rate for SCFE was found to be 7.79 cases/100,000 kids, compared with 10.08 cases/100,000 kids in Connecticut and 2.13 cases/100,000 kids in New Mexico (Kelsey et al.) in previous investigations. SCFE was found to be significantly more prevalent in black children (17.73 cases/100,000 kids) and Hispanics (11.40 cases/100,000 kids) than in white children (4.50 cases/100,000 kids), which indicated much higher racial variations than previously reported. The average age of SCFE presentation was found to be approximately 0.8 years lower in both males and females than previously reported. As reported in previous studies, seasonal variations north of 40 degrees latitude were found. Finally, the incidence of SCFE was found to vary significantly by region of the country (West and Northeast had almost twice the incident rate of the Midwest and South.

Conclusion:

This study described for the first time a true national incident rate of SCFE. The downward trend in age of onset is most likely symbolic of kids maturing at a younger age today. Amplified rates of racial variation in comparison to previously reported data point towards potential genetic factors in both Blacks and Hispanics. Finally, significant variations found both in incident rate between regions of the country and seasonal variation north of 40 degrees latitude suggest some type of interplay between environment and onset of SCFE.