A Tale of Bilateral Rapidly Progressive Osteoarthritis of the Hip-It Is Not Always the Steroid Injection: A Case Report.

Overview

Rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the hip is an unusual subset of hip osteoarthritis in which a >2 mm/yr rate of joint space narrowing occurs. Rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the hip has been associated with intra-articular steroid injection, with the incidence of rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the hip after intra-articular steroid injection ranging from 2.8% to 21%. The occurrence of rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the hip unrelated to intra-articular steroid injection is rare, and not frequently reported. This report presents a unique case of rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the hip in the bilateral hips of one patient. The first hip developed rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the hip within 6 mos after an intra-articular steroid injection. Three years later, the second hip developed rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the hip within 4 mos without any injection or use of systemic steroid medication. The etiology of rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the hip in the absence of intra-articular steroid injection is unclear, and this case presents the opportunity to observe the development of rapidly progressive osteoarthritis of the hip due to different causes within the same individual.