Alterations of Serum Osteocalcin Levels in Patients with Legg-Calvé-Perthes

Abstract

Background Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD) is a paediatric form of osteonecrosis that ultimately heals but will cause femoral head and acetabular deformities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the early serum measurement of osteocalcin in children with femoral head necrosis compared with that of healthy children. Methods 20 patients with LCPD (4 girls and 16 boys) and 20 healthy volunteers (5 girls and 15 boys) were enrolled. All patients did not have additional treatment. Blood samples were obtained from all patients pre-operatively in the morning. All cases had hip radiographs. The serum levels of osteocalcin comparisons between the LCPD patients and the healthy volunteers were performed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The Spearman rank correlation was used to assess correlation between LCPD grade and serum osteocalcin levels. Significance was set at p = 0.05. Results The 20 patients with LCPD (72.75 ± 24.92 ng/ml) had significantly higher serum osteocalcin levels compared with the healthy group (16.80 ± 4.04 ng/ml) (p≤0.01). Serum osteocalcin levels of different LCPD grades were significantly different (Spearman's p = 0.540, p = 0.014). Conclusions We observed a significant correlation between serum osteocalcin levels and LCPD. These results may be meaningful in clinical practice and to future studies.