Perthes' disease of the hip.

It is now sixty years since Legg (1910), Calve (1910) and Perthes (1910) described the condition of coxa plana, or Perthes’ disease as it is more often called today, thus allowing its differentiation from the much more serious tuberculosis of the hip with which it had formerly been confused. It is ironical to find all these years later that a diagnosis of tuberculosis nowadays entails no more than a few months in hospital whereas a diagnosis of Perthes’ disease sometimes leads to a period of rest in bed with traction, splintage or plaster