[Transient osteoporosis of the hip]

Recently, more and more interest has been focused on the local bone lost, e.g. transient osteoporosis of the hip. It is believed that its etiology is similar to that Sudeck's disease. However, it is not clear, yet. Transient osteoporosis of the hip is more frequent in man than in women, at middle age as well as in the III trimester of pregnancy. The patients suffer from increasing hip pain without any definite cause. Laboratory findings do not show pathologies but X-ray reveal marked bone loss in the area of both the head and neck of the femoral bone with normal articular space. The symptoms disappear spontaneously within approximately few months, provided that no complications develop. At the same time, a normal bone structure in the proximal end of femoral bone is restored. The author presents a case of a 37-year old pregnant woman who suffered from rare complication of undiagnosed transient osteoporosis of the hip in the form of pathological compression fracture of the femoral bone neck, immediately below its head.