Degenerative joint disease in the hip and spine

Clinical and radiographic assessment of the spine was carried out in 75 patients with osteoarthrosis (OA) of the hip and in 75 controls without hip disease. Radiographic degenerative changes in the spine were more frequent in the patients with OA hips, occurring in both the dorsal and lumbar spine. Moderate or severe changes were found in the dorsal spine in 29 patients with OA hips (compared with 12 controls), and in the lumbar spine in 32 patients with OA hips (compared with 10 controls).