ARTERIAL SUPPLY AT THE FEMORAL HEAD AND ITS CLINICAL IMPORTANCE

¹ The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England

1. The arterial supply of the upper end of the femur has been studied in twenty-four children and twenty adults.

2. The arterial system was demonstrated by injection of radio-opaque material, with Spalteholz' method of clarification, and histological section of the neck and ligamentum teres.

3. The upper end of the femur is supplied by the nutrient artery of the shaft, the retinacular vessels of the capsule, and the foveolar artery of the ligamentum teres.

4. The retinacular vessels consist of three separate groups: postero-superior, posteroinferior, and anterior. These vessels are the chief supply to the epiphysis and femoral head at all ages.

5. The foveolar artery constitutes a small and subsidiary blood supply to the femoral epiphysis. In this series, it penetrated the cartilaginous or osseous head in 33 per cent. of young specimens and 70 per cent. of adult specimens. The foveolar vessels increase in size with age.

6. The site of the vascular pathology in various lesions of the femoral head is considered.

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