Total Hip and Knee arthroplasty in a patient with osteopetrosis: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Osteopetrosis is an uncommon, inherited disease, characterized by osteosclerosis, obliteration of the medullary canal, calcified cartilage and brittle bone due to impaired osteoclast resorption. Osteoarthritis is common in patients with osteopetrosis. If the patient has pain and dysfunction, total joint arthroplasty is often the treatment of choice but presents many intraoperative and postoperative challenges. Few studies have presented both Total hip arthroplasty (THA) and Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in one patient. This article describes a case of left hip osteoarthritis and right knee osteoarthritis in a patient with osteopetrosis. We performed THA and TKA in a 59-year-old osteopetrotic patient with painful osteoarthritis in the left hip and right knee. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59-years-old female with osteopetrosis was referred to our department because of a history of left hip pain and bilateral, right greater-than-left, knee pain with activity limitation for 13 years. She had no fracture history. In our hospital the patient underwent THA in the left hip firstly. Six months later, we performed TKA of the right knee. At 15-months follow-up, the components were in good position, and the patient could walk freely and perform activities of daily living with no pain. CONCLUSIONS: This case report demonstrates that total joint arthroplasty is an effective treatment for painful hip and knee osteoarthritis in patients with osteopetrosis.