Abstract
Superselective angiography of the femoral medial circumflex artery was performed on 55 hips of 52 cases with osteoarthritis following congenital dislocation of the hip, and the vascular changes of the arteries supplying blood to the femoral head were investigated.
With lateral displacement of the femoral head, stenosis of the superior retinacular arteries at the origin was disclosed and the area of the vascularity springing from these arteries was decreased. On the other hand, the vascularity of the inferior retinacular arteries was increased. Cases having cystic lesions of the femoral head showed an increase in vascularity of both the superior and the inferior retinacular arteries.
With the progress of the disease, the retinacular arteries became markedly curved and winding in the advanced stage accompanying deformity of the femoral head, and there was increased vascularity of the inferior retinacular arteries. From these results, the blood supply of the femoral head with osteoarthritis was proved to be involved in the progress of the disease.
