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Osteonecrosis of the femoral head: diagnosis and classification systems

  • Modern Surgical Treatment of Hip Avascular Necrosis (MA Mont, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Osteonecrosis of femoral head is a rare but disabling condition that usually results in progressive femoral head collapse and secondary arthritis necessitating total hip arthroplasty if not treated appropriately in early stages. However, early diagnosis is challenging as the onset of disease is insidious and the symptoms and signs are usually minimal and nonspecific until it becomes advanced. Of several diagnostic modalities, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered the imaging method of choice with the highest sensitivity and specificity, while detection of potential risk factors is very important as well. Many investigators have developed several different classification systems; however, there still is controversy regarding the optimal classification system. Diagnostic methods and the evolution of different classification systems will be reviewed in this paper.

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Ho-Rim Choi, Marvin E. Steinberg, and Edward Cheng declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Minnesota Medical School, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    Ho-Rim Choi & Edward Y. Cheng

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3737 Market Street 6th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Marvin E. Steinberg

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  1. Ho-Rim Choi
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  2. Marvin E. Steinberg
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  3. Edward Y. Cheng
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Correspondence to Edward Y. Cheng.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Modern Surgical Treatment of Hip Avascular Necrosis

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Choi, HR., Steinberg, M.E. & Y. Cheng, E. Osteonecrosis of the femoral head: diagnosis and classification systems. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med 8, 210–220 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12178-015-9278-7

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