Apparent avascular necrosis of the hip: appearance and spontaneous resolution of MR findings in renal allograft recipients.

The sensitivity of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the detection of avascular necrosis (AVN) of the hip and natural history of the MR findings were determined prospectively in renal allograft recipients, a group at risk for development of the disease. One hundred four patients were studied up to 24 months after transplantation. In 25 hips in 14 patients, MR findings were consistent with AVN. Pain developed in seven hips in four patients; in each hip, the MR images showed abnormality before the onset of symptoms. Plain radiographs showed abnormality in all hips that became painful; however, the plain radiographs of 17 of 18 asymptomatic hips in which MR imaging showed evidence of AVN showed no abnormality over a mean follow-up period of 16 months. All MR lesions in the symptomatic hips were larger than those in the asymptomatic cohort. MR lesions in seven hips (in five asymptomatic patients) regressed in size; in six hips, the MR images returned to normal. The findings suggest that some patients with MR evidence of AVN of the hip have spontaneous improvement.