One of Your Friend's Femurs Is Abnormally Short and Curved

Multiple Choice

One of your friend's femurs is abnormally short and curved. When asked about it, they tell you that when they were very young, they fell from a tree and fractured the femur at the distal end. Their pediatrician urged the parents to allow your friend to receive surgery for the fracture, but they refused. What most likely happened to result in the abnormal femur?

A) Lack of physical therapy caused the muscles of the leg to not heal correctly, inhibiting bone growth.
B) Because the epiphyseal plate was not repaired, any subsequent growth in the bone was stunted and abnormal.
C) The hematoma stage of the fracture never filled in with fibrocartilage, which caused the bone to never heal properly.
D) Because he was young, the femur healed so rapidly that it grew incorrectly and no medical intervention prevented this from occurring.