The coexistence of Osgood-Schlatter's disease with Sinding-Larsen-Johansson's disease. Case report in an adolescent soccer player.

Osgood-Schlatter's disease and Sinding-Larsen-Johansson's diseases belong to the group of osteochondroses which is composed of disorders related to trauma or abnormal stress without evidence of osteonecrosis. They both affect adolescents more frequently when there is a history of participation in sport and their pathogenesis is related to a traumatically induced disruption that shows more easily when a rapid growth spurt is present. The coexistence of these two diseases in a young soccer player is reported. In this case the bone mineral content of every athlete of the team was determined and the bone density of the injured boy resulted lower the mean values of the group. The result suggests the possibility that transitory osteoporosis, connected with the rapid growth spurt that is typical in the adolescence, should be considered as one of the possible causes which contribute to the development of osteochondritic lesions.