Partial Femoral Head Collapse from Avascular Necrosis?

Question

I have had 2 joint replacements due to AVN (a disease that causes bone to die and the joint to collapse). Now I'm having the same thing in a new joint (hip). The MRI showed " mild femoral head collapse." My GP said that there was no collapse and no fracture...well, there isn't a fracture (yet) but there is partial collapse. He said to stay off my feet for 3 weeks and in 1 week we will get xrays and 2 weeks after that, another set of xrays.

Question: Has anyone dealt with this? I trust my GP TOTALLY and he spent a LOT of time on me over the past 2 yrs and is only going by what the Ortho and MRI doc said. I told him about it saying there was a partial collapse and he was PISSED cuz that's not what he was told.

In any case I have this dam*ed AVN again and I was wondering if anyone could give me a bit of support on this....support groups are filled with hundreds of people and I can't deal with that. What to do???? Thanks for any advice/sympathy you may have. I'm just scared.

I'm only 45...is AVN a DISEASE or just a DISORDER? Will I have this for the rest of my life? I can't get an answer to that, maybe cuz I've never ASKED! Heh heh....Thanks for reading...

Last year I had 2 joint replacements....one in the R hip and 1 in the L knee.....I don't know why this is happening but I HAD a lot of risk factors that are no longer in the pic so I wonder why AGAIN? This is the 3rd joint that's been involved. Please email me at replacement_parts@hotmail if you need any further details or would just like to tell me YOUR story as well as me telling you mine. Thanks!

Answer 1

I'm a little unclear here - did you have both previous joint replacements in ONE hip and now have AVN in the other?

Or did you have two hip joints replaced due to AVN and now have AVN in a different spot?

AVN - It's a disease of the bone where there is lack of blood supply to the bone and as a result the bone cells die and the bone weakens, eventually crumbling away and being absorbed by the body.

The usual way of treating hip fractures in Australia - particularly the ones which might lead to AVN - is to replace the head of the femur.

You are young, though, and that would mean possibly looking at a re-do operation in your late 60's when the artificial joint wears out.

X-rays can be deceiving - showing bone there - but x-rays don't show blood supply. MRI is better for AVN.

How did you get the AVN in the first place (and why have they not replaced your femoral head already)?

I'm sorry - I understand that you're probably scared. If you have a good orthopaedic surgeon who fixes you right the first time, you should do well and get back to walking about fairly quickly.

Quit smoking - help your bone to heal.

Take some sunlight (scarce in the wintertime, I know) and calcium.

Look after your diet. Get exercise as directed by your doctors.

Being on your feet is generally good for bones ... but just not for dying bone - not yet.

Answer 2

My husband, at the age of 25 did get a hip replacement due to similar circumstances but it was never diagnosed as AVN. I am just having a hard time understanding how your fake hip can be having this problem. My husband has a birmingham hip which is a partial replacment. The thing is titanium and his femoral head is gone. Is the bone below the replacement deteriorating? I know that that is possible and even likely within the first three months after surgery. Sorry, I'm not being very helpful herre! Anyway, I am pretty sure that AVN is more of a disease. Especially if it is attacking more than one joint. Good Luck!