Bilateral Metal-on-Metal Hybrid Hip Resurfacing in a Patient with Osteopetrosis

Osteopetrosis, also known as marble bone disease1, is a rare inherited skeletal condition characterized by failure of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. Orthopaedic surgeons most commonly encounter patients with the benign autosomal-dominant type of adult-onset osteopetrosis, who often first learn of their diagnosis after sustaining a fracture. The lifelong prevalence of fractures in this patient group ranges from 40% to 66.6%2-5. Other clinical manifestations include coxa vara (caused by stress-induced microfractures in the femoral neck), spine problems (scoliosis, spondylolysis, cervical spine fractures, and idiopathic low back pain), osteomyelitis, and cranial nerve compression syndromes.