Contralateral osteonecrosis of the femoral head newly developed after increasing the dose of corticosteroids

Novel MRI technique for the quantification of biochemical deterioration in steroid-induced osteonecrosis of femoral head: a prospective diagnostic trial

To explore the novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques, IVIM-DWI and IDEAL-IQ in detecting bone marrow fat and microcirculation in steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (SIONFH). In this prospective study, 49 patients (80 hips) with SIONFH taking glucocorticoids and 24 healthy volunteers (48 hips) were recruited and assessed by T1WI, T2WI/fs, IDEAL-IQ and IVIM-DWI. The affected hips, contralateral asymptomatic hips and normal hips, as well as normal, penumbra and necrotic areas in the affected hips, were classified and evaluated. Imaging results were compared with histologic bone sections obtained from SIONFH patients undergoing surgery. The fat fraction (FF) and perfusion fraction (f) differences between groups were analyzed using analysis of variance, the LSD t-test, Pearson correlation analysis and ROC curve analysis. Our results demonstrate that IDEAL-IQ (FF) and IVIM-DWI (f) enable the classification of SIONFH at different ARCO stages. The FF was positively associated with the progression of the disease (r = 0.72), in contrast to f (r = -0.17). The FF and f were significantly different among the necrotic, penumbra and normal areas, and they were negatively correlated with each other (r = -0.37). The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of IDEAL-IQ were 96.9% and 86.7%, and those of IVIM-DWI were 72.34% and 58.33%, respectively. The FF in contralateral asymptomatic hips was significantly higher than in normal hips, but no difference was found for f. IDEAL-IQ, and not IVIM-DWI, was identified to successfully detect bone marrow fat, which is beneficial to the diagnosis of the severity of SIONFH.

Corticosteroid dose increase is a risk factor for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and contralateral osteonecrosis of the femoral head: a case report

BACKGROUND

The incidence of bilateral corticosteroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is high. Although the precise mechanism of corticosteroid-induced ONFH development is unclear, hepatic enzyme abnormalities such as low activity of hepatic cytochrome P450 3A could be one cause. Herein, we report the case of a patient who developed ONFH in the contralateral hip after the dose of corticosteroids for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura was increased. Liver biopsy was done to rule out autoimmune hepatitis.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 32-year-old woman had been treated with continuous corticosteroids of up to 10 mg/day for Sjögren's syndrome for 25 years and corticosteroid-induced ONFH in the left side. At age 33, idiopathic thrombocytopenia developed, which was treated by increasing the corticosteroid dose (40 mg/day). Two months later, liver enzyme level began to increase slightly and continued to increase. A year after corticosteroid dose increase, contralateral ONFH developed, and a liver biopsy demonstrated nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

CONCLUSIONS

The current case indicates that corticosteroid dose increase is a potential risk factor for NAFLD and contralateral ONFH. Therefore, it would be useful and important for to screen and monitor patients with hepatic enzyme abnormality for ONFH occurrence.

Correlation Between Steroid-Induced Osteonecrosis of The Femoral Head and Hepatic CYP3A Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) in young adults is a challenging disorder that can impairs the quality of life of a patient. The disease also leads to frequent occurrences of collapse of the femoral head and resultant dysfunction of the hip joint. In recent years, some scholars have studied steroid-induced lipid metabolism disorder and achieved the effect of steroid-induced ONFH treatment. This study aims to review the investigations on the hepatic CYP3A (cytochrome P4503A enzyme) genetic polymorphisms in steroid-induced ONFH patients. We then further explore its activity correlation with the development of steroid-induced ONFH in a rabbit model.

METHODS

A systematic literature search of articles was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Springerlink, and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure database up to February 2017. Twelve relevant articles were retrieved. The odds ratios, standard mean difference, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to assess the effect of hepatic CYP3A activity on the rabbit model with steroid-induced ONFH. Fixed-effects and random-effects models were used to analyze the heterogeneity. Begg's funnel plot was used to assess publication bias.

RESULTS

High hepatic CYP3A activity significantly decreased the risk for steroid-induced ONFH in the rabbit model (p <. 05). The CYP3A gene may be potentially associated with increased risk of steroid-induced ONFH in the human allele model.

CONCLUSION

The study suggests that high hepatic CYP3A activity decreases the risk of steroid-induced ONFH.

Bilateral corticosteroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head detected at a 6-week interval

Introduction

Corticosteroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) often affects both femoral heads. Such bilateral ONFH cases are generally detected concurrently on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). On the other hand, in unilateral cases, it is rare that contralateral ONFH is subsequently detected. We herein report a case in which bilateral ONFH was detected in both femoral heads by repeated MRI examination at an interval of 6 weeks.

Case description

A 34-year-old man with purpura nephritis was started on corticosteroid therapy with prednisolone at 30 mg/day. Eight months after the initiation of corticosteroid therapy, he complained of left hip pain with no antecedent triggering activity. MRI obtained 8.5 months after the initiation of corticosteroid therapy showed the findings of osteonecrosis of the left femoral head, while no abnormalities were detected in the right femoral head. On the second MRI obtained 10 months after the initiation of corticosteroid treatment, however, osteonecrosis of the right femoral head was newly detected without an increase of the corticosteroid dose.

Conclusions

This case may indicate that corticosteroid-induced bilateral ONFH do not always develop at the same time.