Chondritis dissecans of concave articular surfaces (acetabulum and glenoidfossa). Two case reports

We report two patients who had chronic mechanical pain due to substantial c artilage defects documented by arthrography. One of these patients had pain in the hip and declined surgical treatment. The other had pain in the glen ohumeral joint; surgery found a fissure in the glenoid fossa cartilage and provided prompt pain relief. These two cases serve as reminders that invest igation of the cartilage and subchondral bone in young patients with mechan ical pain should not be confined to the convex articular surfaces, although these are more likely to sustain trauma-related damage than concave surfac es. In both our patients, the diagnosis required thin-section computed arth rotomography. (C) 2000 Edition scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.