Lichtman Staging (Kienböck Disease)

Lichtman staging (Lichtman 1977) of Kienbock disease (osteonecrosis of the carpal lunate) — the radiographic staging of lunate avascular necrosis.

Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.

Example

Lichtman stage
IIIB — lunate collapse with fixed carpal collapse

Result: Lichtman stage IIIB: lunate collapse with fixed carpal collapse (radioscaphoid angle > 60 degrees); a collapse stage.

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What the result means

Stage I / II
Pre-collapse: normal X-ray with abnormal MRI (I); lunate sclerosis with shape preserved (II).
Stage IIIA / IIIB
Lunate collapse; carpal alignment maintained, radioscaphoid angle < 60 degrees (IIIA); fixed carpal collapse, angle > 60 degrees (IIIB).
Stage IV
Generalized perilunate / radiocarpal degenerative arthrosis. The most advanced stage.

What you enter

  • Lichtman stage
How this is calculated

Lichtman DM, Mack GR, MacDonald RI, Gunther SF, Wilson JN. Kienbock's disease: the role of silicone replacement arthroplasty. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1977;59(7):899-908. Read the source ↗

A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.

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Built by Clay Good. Source on GitHub.