Twelve patients, seventeen to twenty-five years old, who had had
infantile Blount's disease involving nineteen limbs, were evaluated at a
mean of twelve years after an initial osteotomy. Twelve of the nineteen
knees were symptomatic, and eight of the symptomatic knees showed early
degenerative changes by arthroscopy or arthrotomy. There was a direct
correlation between the symptoms and the severity of the involvement of the
proximal end of the tibia. A poor final outcome appears to be related to
physeal damage. Early osteotomy must be performed before permanent physeal
damage and subsequent incongruity of the joint occur.