Corticosteroid therapy associated with ischemic necrosis of bone in systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract In this prospective study, 28 (52 percent) of 54 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) had ischemic necrosis of bone in 93 sites. All but two of the patients had multiple sites of involvement, with hips, knees, and shoulders affected in decreasing order of frequency. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory features were comparable in patients with and without ischemic necrosis of bone except for cushingoid changes in 24 (86 percent) of the 28 patients with ischemic necrosis of bone versus four (15 percent) of the 26 patients without ischemic necrosis of bone (p