Idiopathic chondrolysis--diagnostic difficulties. Report of four cases

Four cases of idiopathic chondrolysis of the hip in three white girls and one Maori girl are reported. The authors stress the causes why a disease with characteristic clinical and radiographic appearances and normal biochemical findings presents diagnostic difficulties. It is suspected that idiopathic chondrolysis is a metabolic disorder of chondrocytes, triggered by environmental circumstances in susceptible individuals. Idiopathic chondrolysis is probably one of the most common causes of coxarthrosis in women.