Current trends of osteonecrosis of the femoral head in Taiwan and China

Fang Tsai Lee, Tso Chiang Ma, Mel S. Lee*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a disabling condition characterized by disruption of intravascular blood flow, direct cellular toxicity, and impaired mesenchymal cellular differentiation with subsequent bone death [1–3]. Collapse of the normal spherical head contour with progression to secondary arthritis occurs along a continuum of disease progression. There are an estimated 20,000–30,000 new cases of ONFH diagnosed annually in the USA, with the preponderance among young, active men between the ages of 20 and 50 years [4]. It is evident that ethnic differences in the index diagnosis for hip arthroplasty do exist. In a comparative study by Hoaglund, the incidence of ONFH as indication for THR in Japanese patients, an Asian population, was four times that of American Caucasian patients [5]. Therefore, because the population size of China, for example, is four and one-half times that of the USA, it is reasonable to conclude that there may be 360,000–540,000 new cases diagnosed in China annually. Osteoarthritis is the main indication for THRs performed in Caucasian populations [6], but ONFH is the main indication for hip arthroplasty in Asian populations. For instance, in Hong Kong, 45.6 % of THRs were performed under the diagnosis of ANFH [7], while only 3 % of THRs in the UK [8] and 10 % of THRs in the USA [9] are performed for ONFH. In addition, patients with ONFH are usually young men of working age; therefore, the socioeconomic impact of ONFH is great in Asian countries.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationOsteonecrosis
PublisherSpringer Berlin Heidelberg
Pages55-58
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9783642357671
ISBN (Print)9783642357664
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 01 2014

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Current trends of osteonecrosis of the femoral head in Taiwan and China'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this