Chronic repetitive trauma: a cause of atypical degenerative joint disease.

Six cases of amateur athletes who have severe atypical degenerative joint disease (DJD) are presented; their histories suggest that chronic, repetitive trauma was causative in the development of their arthropathy. Although many examples of this process have been reported in professional athletes, it has not been reported in amateurs. As participation in athletic activities increases we can, perhaps, expect to see more of this type of DJD in the future.