title: Radiographic evaluation of the hip has limited reliability.
abstract: Radiographic evaluation provides essential information regarding the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. We evaluated the ability of hip specialists to reliably identify important radiographic features and to make a diagnosis based on plain radiographs alone. Five hip specialists and one fellow performed a blinded radiographic review of 25 control hips, 25 hips with developmental dysplasia (DDH), and 27 with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). On two separate occasions, readers assessed acetabular version, inclination and depth, position of the femoral head center, head sphericity, head-neck offset, Tönnis grade, and joint congruency. Observers made a diagnosis categorizing each hip as normal, dysplastic, FAI, or combined DDH and FAI (features of both). Reliability was determined using Cohen's kappa coefficient. Intraobserver values were highest for acetabular inclination (kappa = 0.72) and determination of femoral head center position (kappa = 0.77). Interobserver reliability values were highest for acetabular inclination (kappa = 0.61) and Tönnis osteoarthritis grade (kappa = 0.59). All other measurements, including diagnosis, had kappa values less than 0.55. We concluded many of the standard radiographic parameters used to diagnose DDH and/or FAI are not reproducible. Accordingly, a more clear set of definitions and measurements must be developed to allow for more reliable diagnosis of early hip disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, One Barnes-Hospital Plaza, Suite 11300 West Pavilion, Campus Box 8233, St Louis, MO 63110, USA. clohisyj@wudosis.wustl.edu
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Clohisy
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Carlisle
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trousdale
authors.forename: Young-Jo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Beaule
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Steger-May
authors.forename: Perry L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Schoenecker
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Millis
mesh_terms: D000077:Acetabulum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001175:Arthrography; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005269:Femur / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006618:Hip Dislocation, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index