Rapidly destructive coxarthrosis--a report of a patient with "strip-mining" and "interior crumbling" of bone architecture.

The pathomechanism of rapidly destructive coxarthrosis has not been clarified. Interesting findings were obtained in specimen from a 64-year-old male patient, i.e., the break-down (crumbling) of the internal structure of osteonal bone and superficial strip-mining of the femoral head. The detritic fragments and hydroxyapatite crystals were mainly deposited in the pocket of the joint capsule and some of them were embedded beneath the synovial membrane. We conjecture that apatite-associated destructive arthritis and/or detritic synovitis might accelerate the progression of rapidly destructive coxarthrosis.