Risk factors for nontraumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head after renal transplantation

We investigated risk factors for osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONF) in renal transplant recipients, who are susceptible to the disease. Among 287 renal transplant recipients, 18 ONF patients with enough data were included, and 18 age- and sex-matched recipients without ONF were nominated as reference cases. Risk factors were analyzed using a conditional logistic regression method. There were no differences between the ONF patients and the reference cases regarding the types of immunosuppressant or the donor (living or cadaveric, father or mother, matching blood type and human leukocyte antigens). The daily oral steroid dosage (prednisolone 25.0mg/day or more) and blood urea nitrogen level 2 months after transplantation were the only factors with relevance to the occurrence of ONF. We propose that oral steroid dosages should be low or reduced after renal transplantation, and acute rejection should be controlled with pulsed therapy.