Pathogenesis of avascular necrosis

This chapter will present an overview of our current understanding of the pathogenesis of avascular necrosis. While a long list of clinical conditions are associated with this, the most extensively studied group is that of glucocorticoid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head, and this chapter reflects this bias. Glucocorticoid has both direct and indirect effects on bone homeostasis, and acts at multiple levels to become a potent cause of this. Thus, lessons learnt from studying its effects serve as a good basis in our understanding how a myriad of other clinical conditions can cause this entity