Single or multiple fibrous dysplasia of the proximal femur can cause coxa vara, Shepherd's crook deformity and a leg length discrepancy for those patients who require surgical treatment. We wanted to evaluate the efficiency of surgical treating fibrous dysplasia of the proximal femur.

Among the patients who underwent surgical treatment at our hospital during the period of June, 2001 to October, 2007, we selected 18 patients who underwent curettage and bone graft or valgus osteotomy and internal fixation due to proximal femur involvement. The clinical results were analyzed based on the patients' clinical records and radiologic findings.

The group of patients with a normal neck-shaft angle (Group 1) could achieve satisfactory results by undergoing curettage, bone graft and internal fixation. The other group of patients who progressed to Shepherd's crook deformity (Group 2) could have satisfactory results when they underwent valgus osteotomy and soft tissue release or both proximal femur shortening osteotomy and valgus osteotomy, but not with undergoing valgus osteotomy only.

Varus deformity in patients with fibrous dysplasia may progress even though they undergo valgus osteotomy. It is important to consider the preoperative biomechanical condition of the proximal femur before performing surgery.