Does persistent fetal femoral anteversion contribute to osteoarthritis?: a preliminary report.

Persistence of femoral anteversion into adulthood is a developmental abnormality which Somerville has postulated may predispose to the later development of osteoarthritis of the hip. To test this hypothesis, the femoral anteversion was measured in 20 adult patients with idiopathic osteoarthritis of the hip. The average anteversion in painful hips was found to be 24 degrees compared with 12.11 degrees in the uninvolved hip. None of the pain-free hips had an anteversion of greater than 22 degrees while 54% of those with pain had anteversion greater than this value. While these results are preliminary, they suggest that increased femoral anteversion may definitely contribute to the later development of osteoarthritis of hip.