Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (osteochondrosis of the femoral head) has been recognized in archaeological material for nearly
a century but is extremely rare. We describe two Czech cases from archaeological findings. The first case was diagnosed in
the skeleton of a man older than 50 years with the left hip affected. The skeleton was in grave Number 2 of the Langobard
cemetery at Lužice (Moravia) and dated to the end of the fifth century and the beginning of the sixth century AD. The second
case was described by J. Chochol in 1957 on the left femur and half of the pelvis of a skeleton from an archaeological investigation
in Brandýsek (Bohemia), ninth to tenth centuries AD. Using the diagnostic criteria of Ortner and Putschar, we excluded slipped
capital femoral epiphysis in both cases. We discuss the differential diagnosis of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease versus unilateral
and bilateral osteochondroses of the femoral head in archaeological and current clinical material.
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