Perthes' disease and the relevance of thrombophilia.

Recent work has suggested that thrombophilia may be an aetiological factor in up to 50% of children with Perthes' disease, and that up to 75% may have a coagulopathy. Our aim was to test these findings in the local population of children with Perthes' disease and attempt to correlate them with the severity of the condition. In 64 children there were only eight (12%) with low levels of clotting proteins, as defined by normal paediatric ranges. Of these eight, only five could be said to show any thrombophilic tendency.