oa Osteonecrosis Characteristics in Qatar

Osteonecrosis (ON) is a disease with significant morbidity, it is associated with multiple diseases. The aim of this study was to find out the characteristics of ON in Qatar.

Methods: this is a retrospective study done at Hamad Medical Corporation, which is the main hospital in Qatar (Arabian Gulf) with 1300- bed capacity. Inpatients records from 1993 to 2003 with the diagnosis of ON and avascular necrosis (AVN) were reviewed. Patients’ characteristics were recorded.

Results: 40patients records were reviewed;only 38 had complete records, the other two incomplete files excluded from the study. The patients'age ranged from 9 to 69 years old, 22 males and 16 female. Twenty patients were Qataris and eighteen were non-Qatari, Time to diagnosis ranged from six days to two years. Forty-seven total joints were affected (more than one joint was affected in eight patients). The hip was the most common site involved 39/ 47 and eight were a non-hip (four knees, three ankles and one wrist). Six (15.7%) patients were on steroids. Associated diseases were as follows: five (13%) patients had sickle cell anemia, seven (18.4%) patients had trauma, four (10.5%) patients had hematological diagnosis (one leukemia, one protein C deficiency, one polycythemia vera (PCV), and one TTP. One (2.6%) had nephrotic syndrome, one had reticular sarcoma of the femur; one had Hodgkin lymphoma with radiation, one patient had polymyositis, one had rheumatoid arthritis and one had systemic lupus erythematosus with nephritis. In 12 patients (31.5%) no obvious cause were found.

Conclusions: this is the first study on ON in Qatar, there were some differences of the characteristics of our patients compared to others; notably less trauma and alcohol associations and more hematological association, this study may represent a local demographic data of ON in this region.