NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although hip osteoarthritis (OA) increases the risk of total hip replacement, only a few patients ultimately progress to that point, a new report shows.
As lead author Dr. Jonas Franklin told Reuters Health by e-mail, "For patients and the general clinician, I believe that our findings that incidental radiographic hip osteoarthritis entails a relatively small risk for future hip replacement is of greatest interest."
To investigate risk factors for progression of hip OA and the natural history of the disease in a community setting, Dr. Franklin of the University of Iceland, Reykjavik, and colleagues studied data on patients who had had colon radiography between 1980 and 1997.
As the researchers reported November 30 online in Arthritis Care & Research, after exclusions they evaluated a total of 2,953 hips, measuring minimal joint space and grading each hip for radiographic OA.
By late 2008, the cumulative incidence of total hip replacement was 2.5% and the cumulative incidence of hip fracture was 2.6%.
Of course, hips with radiographic hip OA had a higher rate of hip replacement: 16.9% (hazard ratio, 13.2). The risk also increased as minimal joint space decreased.
Still, 11 to 28 years after the initial x-rays were taken, more than four out of five patients with radiographic signs of hip OA hadn't needed joint replacement.
Dr. Franklin's advice to patients: "Even if the hip looks bad on x-ray, it doesn't mean that you surely will need to have it replaced in the future."
By David Douglas
Source: http://link.reuters.com/juv23r
Arthritis Care Res 2010.
Last Updated: 2010-12-21 16:26:23 -0400 (Reuters Health)
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