Subchondral involvement in osteonecrosis of the femoral head: insight on local composition, microstructure and vascularization.

Objective: To determine changes of subchondral bone composition, micro-structure, bone marrow adiposity and micro-vascular perfusion in end-stage osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) compared to osteoarthritis (OA) using a combined in vivo and ex vivo approach.

Design: Male patients up to 70 years old referred for total hip replacement surgery for end-stage ONFH were included (n = 14). Fifteen patients with OA were controls.