Neurogenic para-articular heterotopic ossification: a retrospective su rvey of 48 cases occu rri ng after brain damage

Abstract

Heterotopic ossification (HO) was looked for in the radiographs of the 1495 patients with cerebral events treated since 1963. HO was found in 48 patients. The highest incidence was in those with head injury (7%) compared to only 1 % of those with stroke. The severity of HO was also greater in those with brain injury compared with the other pathologies. Other conditions where HO was found were subarachnoid haemorrhage, encephalitis and cerebral hypoxia. The HO was found almost exclusively in the large proximal joints, especially in the elbow after head injury. Neither the severity of the radiological changes nor the number of joints involved appeared to be related to the duration of unconsciousness in head injured patients.

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