any one have AVN caused by systematic lupus SLE??

[osama]

I have SLE for 3 years, later i have a pain with my legs. my doc ask me to make MRI . the result i have AVN grad 3 in both hips. i am only 22 years and the solution is hip replacements. are there any other solutions? any body did hip replacements caused by SLE?

[irenestephen]

Hi

Not completely sure what AVN stands for but I am heading that way too through the combination of osteo-genesis perfecta and long term steroid use.

My mum needed hip replacements and got them done (at age 86 and 90!) but the thought of needing this type of surgery is scary at age 22 and 53 (me). No simple fixing - or at least I have'nt found one. Between the tiredness and the 'old' bones it really makes you feel old and decrepid.

Take care.

[Lorelei]

Hi, osama & irenesteven!

I have never been told I have AVN but have been tested for it several times because of hip pain and being on steroids for 13 years.

I do know a little bit about it. AVN stands for avascular necrosis. It is a condition caused by prednisone in some patients. The bone in the condyle of the femur (upper leg bone) loses its blood supply. The blood vessels there disappear. The term for this is 'avascular' meaning 'without vessels'. Once the bone is avascular, there's no way for the living bone cells to get the oxygen and nutrients they need, so they die. The word for dead tissue is 'necrosis'. So it's called 'avascular necrosis'.

This happens in the very center of the rounded end of the top of the femur, the part that makes the 'ball' of the 'ball and socket joint'. Getting into the center of the condyle to remove dead bone would leave the bone hollow and too weak to function in the hip joint. That's why the only solution is to do a hip replacement, as I understand things.

Just leaving the dead bone there is not an option for very long because: 1) it will become very painful, and 2) there's a chance that dead tissue can become infected and the infection could spread throughout your body.

I am sorry to hear that you are in pain and so sorry to hear that this is the cause. I do know someone with a hip that has been replaced. He likes his new hip and said the key to success with it is a good surgeon and doing lots & lots of physical therapy every single day after the surgery. I see him out walking every day in my neighborhood and I've noticed that he can walk faster than I can.

I wish you good luck in finding a surgeon if you must have the surgery.

I hope that you will start feeling better!

Lorelei