My mother was diagnosed with avascular necrosis. She is 85 and is in pain, but thinks this could be soft tissue and not AVN. Could this be possible? She is having ultrasound and it helps a little. What specialist could help us? She has had an MRI. I would like a 2nd opinion, because her orthopaedic doctor did not tell us much.

-- Tamara Harper (pharper@ee.net), March 26, 2001

Answers

Ms. Harper Sorry for the delayed reply. A person is always entittled to a second opinion. There are many causes for pain around the hip. IT could be related to soft tissues or AVN. It would be difficult to say with an exam and taking to her. Most orthopaedists should be able to render a second opinion, you may want to see someone who has a subspecialty in hip surgery. We do specialize in hip surgery and AVN here, but there are many excellent centers around the country

-- Paul Khanuuja, MD (mjkhanuja@cs.com), May 30, 2001.

If you are unhappy with the care and information that you have received from one physician, you should definitely seek another opinion. For general information about osteonecrosis [avascular necrosis] visit our website www.osteonecrosis.org.

-- David S. Hungerford, M.D. (dhunger@jhmi.edu), August 27, 2001.