2015 Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 73-76
A 10-year-old girl had a right hip pain from 2 years earlier， and was referred to us with a 3-month history of pain and functional impairment in the right hip． Physical examinations were unremarkable， except of muscle wasting of her right thigh. She had severely restricted range of motion of right hips， with a flexion contracture of the right hip． Standard radiograph of the pelvis showed loss of joint space in the right hip． MRI of the hip revealed narrowing of the right hip joint space and bone marrow edema within right femoral head with cartilage loss and small volume of joint effusion with no signs of synovial thickening or enhancement which is characteristic of juvenile idiopathic arthritis（JIA）． The diagnosis of idiopathic chondrolysis of hip （ICH）was made． The treatment of intra-articular corticosteroid injection followed by oral ibuprofen and physiotherapy was started． Her symptoms and standard radiograph findings improved 6 months later． ICH is an unknown cause pediatric musculoskeletal disorder． It presents with progressive articular cartilage destruction and joint space narrowing， resulting in secondary osteoarthritis． The cardinal symptoms of lCH are strong pain of hip joint and disturbance of excursion． ICH occurs predominantly in adolescent girls， therefere， it is necessary to be differentiated from JIA．
