Evaluation of acetabular dysplasia using a top view of the hip on three-dimensional CT

We assessed coverage over the femoral head, using three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) imaging on 20 hips in 18 patients before rotational acetabular osteotomy, and on 18 normal hips as control. In particular, we introduced a "top view of the hip" in three-dimensional CT evaluation in order to detect posterolateral deficiency, which needs special attention in regard to rotational transfer of the acetabular fragment. We determined the horizontal plane passing through 5 mm cranial to the top of the femoral head on the coronal view of a multiplanar reconstruction image. Then, we erased the images of the ilium that were more cranial than this horizontal plane from the conventional cranial view of the pelvis and the proximal femur, and defined this view as the "top view of the hip". This top view clearly showed any uncovered area on the femoral head. Of the 20 hips, 6 were deficient anterolaterally (anterolateral type), 9 were deficient laterally (lateral type), and 5 were deficient posterolaterally (posterolateral type). On plain anteroposterior radiographs, 7 of the 20 hips had the cross-over sign of Reynolds. Five of these 7 hips with the cross-over sign were the posterolateral type in top view, while none of the 13 hips without the cross-over sign was the posterolateral type. We recommend preoperative evaluation using a top-view on three-dimensional CT images in patients who have the cross-over sign on an anteroposterior radiograph.