Abstract

Ten cases of fractured neck of femur studied at necropsy were found to have established contralateral intracerebral lesions. These were mainly infarcts, and it suggested that the presence of hemiparesis predisposes to a fall on to the affected side and that the body weight acts through the hip joint in such a way as to fracture the femoral neck. This may happen irrespective of the magnitude of the patient's trabecular bone volume, but in osteoporotic subjects the fracture will probably be intertrochanteric, whereas in non-osteoporotic patients it will probably be subcapital.