Question

72-year-old female presents with progressively severe unilateral hip pain, negative hip X-ray, and MRI of the hip shows lucency in the femoral head. What is the most likely diagnosis?

A) Osteoarthritis
B) Rheumatoid arthritis
C) Avascular necrosis of the femoral head
D) Hip labral tear

Answer 1

The most likely diagnosis is C) Avascular necrosis of the femoral head, which is the death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood supply.

Step-by-step explanation:

The likely diagnosis for a 72-year-old female presenting with progressively severe unilateral hip pain, negative hip X-ray, and MRI showing lucency in the femoral head is C) Avascular necrosis of the femoral head. This condition involves the death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood supply. Osteoarthritis is the most common cause of hip disability but typically shows joint space narrowing, subchondral sclerosis, and osteophyte formation on X-ray. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition leading to inflammation of the joints, and hip labral tear refers to damage to the cartilage that lines the edge of the hip joint socket; neither would typically present with lucency on MRI that suggests bone tissue death.