Giant granulomatous lesions of the femoral head and neck in rheumatoid arthritis.

Local areas of subarticular bone erosion occurring in rheumatoid arthritis are a typical manifestation of the disease (Cruickshank, Macleod, and Shearer, 1954; Steven 1949). Occasionally they may be large enough to produce mechanical weakness, although the majority of spontaneous fractures in rheumatoid arthritis occur through uneroded areas of bone (Badley and Ansell, 1960). Such large osteolytic lesions may present diagnostic difficulties. This work presents two cases of rheumatoid arthritis where giant erosions of the femoral neck occurred, resulting in pathological fracture.