Disturbances of trabecular architecture in the upper end of the femur in childhood.

Trabeculae represent the smallest functional component of bone visible with conventional radiographic methods. Their architecture is affected by mechanical, hormonal, nutritional, genetic, toxic, and local disease processes. Trabecular evaluation, if coupled with a knowledge of normal trabecular development in children, can represent a sensitive index of bone malfunction, at least as judged radiographically. This paper explores alterations in the trabecular architecture of the upper end of the femur in children.