Comparative study of iliac crest and subchondral femoral bone in osteoarthritic patients.

This is a study of trabecular bone changes in selected regions of the femoral head. Iliac crest bone from osteoarthritic (OA) and control groups is compared to the bone from regions in the femoral head. The regions are the subchondral principal compressive and tensile areas. These areas of highest and lowest stress undergo dramatic change with OA. The compressive region has total cartilage loss and eburnation. Bone histomorphometry was done on undecalcified tissue sections stained by the von Kossa silver method and counter-stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Iliac crest histomorphometry is similar for the OA and control groups. The femoral trabecular structure in the stress regions changes in opposing directions with OA. In the compressive region the structural variables (BV/TV and BS/TV) increase [corrected], and in the tensile region decrease. Femoral bone turnover indices (OV/TV, OS/BS, and ES/BS) are no different, but femoral bone structure is different from that of the iliac crest. In OA patients there is no significant increase in iliac crest trabecular bone volume. The iliac crest is not useful to assess the bony changes in femoral OA.