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Avatar universal

Wondering if anyone here has experienced avascular necrosis post tx

I am curious if anyone else in this community has experienced this post tx condition besides myself. I discovered I had this about a year ago. I had been experiencing hip pain but just tried to ignore it thinking I could just walk it off. I went for my six month liver level and cat scan when my hep doctor told me I had this. I will need hip replacement surgery when the femoral head collaspes. I am about at the 50% mark now.

I would also like to know if anyone knows where I might find some data regarding follow up studies of the long term affects of interferon alfa tx.

I did find the following info which I found to be very interesting.

"Interferon alfa can inhibit angiogenesis, which may cause avascular necrosis, and the stress of weight bearing may make the femoral head particularly vulnerable (2). The possibility of avascular necrosis should be considered if bone or joint pain develops in patients with CML given interferon alfa."

Extracted from Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Bulletin, Volume 24, Number 2, April 2005.

Thanks,
Alan
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Avatar universal
hello i found out a few months ago i have AVN in both hips and shoulders i finished interferon 04 let me know if you find out any more info, i guess my first hip replacement is coming up
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Avatar universal
Hey,

thanks for your good wishes...

but no, unfortunately, I did not achieve SVR... hope u did?

A question (or possibly two): Why were u being scanned prior to tx? Was that a baseline thing where you live?

So, you were on procrit because of bone marrow suppression during tx? Ha ha, they sure didn't like my CBCs but...

the problem with me is I can't stay on interferon for very long, anyway, I go all autoimmune and some body part wants to fall off or implode!... ha ha luck of the genetic draw I suppose...

Do you have any other health problems, APS, Hughes Syndrome, known coagulopathies? Any diabetics in your family tree... atheros?

Did you ever scuba dive? Distance runner? Ever run a lot of hills?  how's your drinky-drinky?... catching my drift?

(And I'm not trying to be an old stick in the mud but... ON can be there for years b4 showing on an ordinary xray b4 being symptomatic, I can attest to that. MRI is scan of choice... I'm uncertain re: cat scan for early detection however...

I've felt some med could've been responsible (pred) but one never knows sometimes if it isn't plain and obvious. (I saw that CML paper previously...hmn...) but so far the numbers don't support a cause and effect, certainly not yet...  And I'm certainly not saying yours isn't the result of tx, but (I sure didn't know Raynaud's had been suggested as a cause of ON (until recently) and (sometimes) I get that brutally so...)

I never felt the 1st bite of ON in a hip until I finished a run one day. That would've been 7 years post last attempt at Hep C tx...

you take good care of yourself and that hip




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Avatar universal
Hey!

Sorry to hear about your On.

I had many cat scans prior to tx and this never showed up. It's something that you really can't miss because it's quite evident in the "films".

I treated 8/05 to 8/06 - peg/riba (procrit last 5 months of tx) so I'm not sure if the above mentioned study relates to pegulated interferon but it's close enough for me to seriously consider that the necrosis could very well been a side since it never showed until a year ago.

I guess we just don't have enough history and data yet to know the long term effects. That's what bothers me about not having more follow up for post 6 month tx mark. I have not seen much data on this but I guess there is limited resources and the focus is on "curing" rather than long term side effects. I would like to be proven wrong so if anyone can direct me to some data resources or studies I would be very interested.

When did you find out about your conditions in relation to tx. I hope you were able to attain SVR!

Take Care
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Avatar universal
Interesting. PM me with your details Alan. I have ON in both shoulders and hips (at last count)...

and yes, I was on the rib + interferon alpha tx
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