A 43-year-old woman with right hip pain

Although tuberculous arthritis is currently uncommon in the United States, the hip joint is a common location. Tuberculous arthritis usually presents as a mild, slowly progressing process. It often involves a single joint. Radiological findings include osteopenia of the involved joint, soft tissue swelling, bone destruction without evidence of bone formation, and sequestrum formation. Several conditions should be considered in the differential diagnosis. The detailed roentgenographic appearances and many of the differential diagnoses are included in this paper. Final diagnosis is made by positive culture results or finding the bacillus histologically.