[Unclear hip pain in systemic sclerosis. Osteonecrosis]

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease of connective tissue that leads to widespread small vessel damage, progressive fibrosis of the skin and numerous extracutaneous organs. An often forgotten manifestation of SSc is in bone. We report on a case of SSc where the patient suffered from unexplainable coxalgia that had started 4 years after the diagnosis of SSc was made. Nontraumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head was identified by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the underlying cause of the hip pain.