Osteonecrosis following treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: The Southampton Children’s Hospital experience

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of osteonecrosis (ON) in children following treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), characterise these cases and review treatment methods. METHODS: All children diagnosed and treated for ALL between 01 January 2003 and 31 December 2013 at our centre were retrospectively reviewed. Logistic regression was used to investigate risk factors for ON occurrence. RESULTS: Of 235 children treated for ALL, 48/235 (20.4%) children suffered musculoskeletal symptoms necessitating radiological investigation. A total of 13 (5.5%) had MRI-diagnosed ON, with a median diagnosis time of 12 months (interquartile range 10 to 14) following initiation of chemotherapy. ON affected 40 joints in 13 children. The most commonly involved joints were hips (14 joints in eight patients) and knees (12 joints in seven patients). Older age at ALL diagnosis was associated with significantly increased risk of development of ON per year (odds ratio 1.35, 95% confidence interval 1.17 to 1.57, p < 0.001). Eight children underwent at least one surgical intervention. Joint arthroplasty was undertaken in nine joints of four children at a mean age of 18.3 years. All patients who underwent hip arthroplasty had previously received core decompression, with a mean time of 27.8 months (18 to 33) between treatments. CONCLUSIONS: ON is a significant complication of ALL treatment. Our results suggest risk stratification for development of ON by age, and targeted monitoring of high-risk joints is possible. ON treatment is varied with little evidence base.