Novelties in slipped capital femoral epiphysis imaging: A narrative review

Abstract

Rationale and objectives: Imaging plays a key role in Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis diagnosis and severity assessment. In the last two decades, signs and measurements emerged in literature showed potential to help in SCFE diagnosis and tailoring treatment. The purpose of this review is to collect and discuss new imaging signs, measurements, and techniques according to investigations published after 2000 to improve SCFE diagnosis. Material and methods: The PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct databases were used to search for relevant articles related to imaging in SCFE diagnosis from January 2000 to March 2023. Article selection and review was performed by two board-certified radiologists). Article quality assessment were conducted by authors using QUADAS-2 and SANRA evaluation tools. Results: The research resulted in a total of 2577 articles. After duplicates removal and abstract analysis, 28 articles were finally selected for full-text analysis. Seventeen articles were focused on Radiographs, 6 on CT, 1 on both Radiographs and CT, 4 on MRI. No study focused on ultrasound was selected. Conclusions: Use of modified Klein's line and S-sign may improve radiographs accuracy in daily routine. Lucency sign may help in early diagnosis on radiographs. Preoperative CT may be useful in planning a tailored treatment predicting SCFE severity and instability. MRI is the most accurate modality to diagnose SCFE at early stage. Nevertheless, it cannot be used to predict the risk of contralateral SCFE. Risk prediction can be assessed with radiographs, using a new rapid mOBS. Further investigation and validation of these sign is needed.