A class of deformity presents itself rather frequently to the orthopedist offering unusual difficulties on account of actual loss of bony tissue. Reference is made to those cases of absent epiphyses caused by acute suppurative arthritis, epiphysitis or tuberculous disease. The head of the femur is the common seat of such a lack. There presents, also, in the femur, abnormal deviations of the axis of the head and neck with the axis of the shaft, giving coxa valga, etc. For example, Figure 1 shows a defect in the femoral head due to arthritis; Figure 2 shows a typical case of coxa valga.
The question as to treatment has ever been a vexatious one, and authorities are apt to hedge. Lorenz advocates ankylosing the top of the femur to the acetabulum, but ankylosis is almost impossible in the very young. As a matter of fact, the results of these atypical cases have been