Mohamed Morsy, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, is an author of a recently published article titled “Reconstruction of a Pediatric Lateral Femoral Condyle After Septic Necrosis with a Free Vascularized Fibular Epiphysis.”

The article was published in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated, in March 2023.

According to the article, “Reconstruction of bony defects associated with loss of articular surface in the skeletally immature patients is a challenging problem.” For this study, a five-year-old female presented with severe valgus deformity of the right knee after septic necrosis of the lateral femoral condyle, and reconstruction was performed using the contralateral proximal fibular epiphysis on the anterior tibial vessels. After 12 weeks, full weight bearing was allowed, and two years of follow-up showed no deformity or length discrepancy as well as 90-degree range of motion.

The study concluded that, while the pattern of one femoral condyle resorption due to osteomyelitis is a rare presentation, the presented method of reconstruction could be implemented as a novel technique to reconstruct the growing knee joint in such a condition.