Dr. Harry Kim and his team at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children performed a MRI study which showed that children with Perthes have inflammation in the affected hip joint for a very long time.

Furthermore, the team discovered that a protein known to increase inflammation called interleukin-6 or IL-6 was significantly increased in the joint fluid. It is interesting that this protein is also elevated in children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The team is actively engaged in research to understand how the elevation of the protein affects bone healing in Perthes and whether a treatment to stop this protein can improve bone healing. It is an exciting time for Perthes research.

Stay tuned!

Quantitative assessment of synovitis in Legg-Calve-Perthes disease using gadolinium-enhanced MRI. Neal DC, O’Brien JC, Burgess J, Jo C, Kim HK, International Perthes Study G. Journal of pediatric orthopedics Part B. 2015 Mar;24(2):89-94. PubMed PMID:25305048.

Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease Produces Chronic Hip Synovitis and Elevation of Interleukin-6 in the
Synovial Fluid. Kamiya N, Yamaguchi R, Adapala NS, Chen E, Neal D, O’Brien J, Thoveson A, Gudmundsson P, Brabham C, Aruwajoye O, Drissi H, Kim HK. J Bone Miner Res. 2015 Jan 1. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.2435. [Epub ahead of print]