Kaschin-Beck disease is endemic in Eastern Siberia, Northern China and North Korea.
This disease causes short statue due to multiple focal necrosis in the growth plate of the tubular bones. This leads to secondary, sometimes severe osteoarthrosis. We report two cases of this disease.
Case 1: A 70-year-old Chinese man visited our clinic complaining of numbness in the ulner side of his right hand on March 13, 2000.
Radiographs of his elbow showed very severe degenerative change. After radiographical examination of other joints, detailed physical examination and taking a detailed life history, he was diagnosed as right cubital tunnel syndrome and kaschin-Beck disease.
Case 2: a 65-year-old woman, the wife of the first case, was coincidentally admitted for malignant tumor in this hospital. She is a Japanese national who was born in Northern China. She was left there after the second world war and married the present husband at 12 years of age. She showed the same statue, joint deformities, radiological symmetrical changes of the hand, elbow, knee, and hip joints. She was also diagnosed as Kaschin-Beck disease. We treated the man conservatively and are now observing his natural course, because he has little awareness of the disease due to a poor living environment, and has complained little about the disease and ulner neuropathy.
