title: Increased frequency of white matter lesions in patients with osteonecrosis (WMLeOn) of the femoral head.
abstract: White matter lesions (WML) are commonly seen in cerebral MR imaging in normal and demented elderly people or young people suffering from migraine. We present data showing that WML are detected in an unexpectedly high frequency (56.9%) in patients with non-traumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head compared to age and sex-matched controls. We designated the coexistence of WML and osteonecrosis as white matter lesions in osteonecrosis (WMLeON). We examined the possible association of WMLeON with hyperlipidaemia and other risk factors for WML or osteonecrosis of the femoral head. The frequency of history of corticosteroid treatment was statistically lower in patients with WMLeON (58.6%) compared to those without it (90.1%) (P = 0.03). We found no association of WMLeON with diabetes, stroke, hyperlipidaemia, migraine, smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, or systemic lupus erythematosus. Although, the clinical significance of WMLeON is still unknown, this finding supports, at least, the hypothesis that non-traumatic osteonecrosis is indeed a multisystem disorder rather than a disease of human skeleton.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical school, Larissa University Hospital, University of Thessaly, Larissa 41222, Greece. gmhadji@med.uth.gr
authors.forename: Georgios M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Hadjigeorgiou
authors.forename: Apostolos H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Karantanas
authors.forename: Aristidis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zibis
authors.forename: Efthimios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dardiotis
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aggelakis
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Malizos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015897:Comorbidity; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005271:Femur Head Necrosis / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids