Recently, several IPSG members travelled to Dallas to learn how to use Hipvasc, an imaging software developed for Perthes disease MRI measurements. Several centers are obtaining perfusion MRI scans of the hip in Perthes disease, which is a MRI protocol that specifically looks for how much blood flow to the femoral head is normal or abnormal. It is often difficult to  visually estimate the regions of normal and abnormal blood flow to the femoral head on a perfusion MRI scan.  Hipvasc is a software that uses a custom algorithm that calculates the amount of femoral head that has adequate blood flow in a perfusion MRI.   An example above demonstrates a typical Hipvasc output of several slices of a hip perfusion MRI scan.  In this particular hip, the more red shaded regions indicate good blood flow, while the bluer regions of the hip indicate poor blood flow. IPSG members hope to

Wudbhav N. Sankar, MD Dr. Sankar is the director of the Young Adult Hip Preservation Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Learn more about Dr. Sankar here. Education Medical: MD – University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA Internship: Surgery – Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Residency: Orthopedic Surgery –

A recent study conducted by Dr. Harry Kim, Chairman of IPSG and staff doctors and researchersat Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, looked at the use of an advancedMRI called perfusion MRI, a new diagnostic imaging testtodetermine revascularization of femoral heads of patients with Perthes disease. Revascularization is the return of blood flow to the femoral head