Kienböck disease and negative ulnar variance.

We compared the degree of ulnar variance, measured on standardized radiographs of the wrist, in forty-four patients who had Kienböck disease with that in ninety-nine control subjects who had been selected from a general clinic population and had radiographs of the wrist. The purpose of our study was to determine if there is a true relationship between negative ulnar variance and the development of Kienböck disease. Gender was not found to influence the degree of ulnar variance, but an association was found between age and negative ulnar variance in both the control subjects and the patients who had Kienböck disease. The findings of the present study confirmed an association between negative ulnar variance and the development of Kienböck disease even after correction for the influence of age on the measurement of ulnar variance.