The occurrence of osteonecrosis (ON) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was first quantified by Dubois et al. [1] in 1960, in their report describing ON in 11 out of 400 SLE patients (2.8%). Newer studies, with access to information on magnetic resonance imagining screening of the lower limbs, have identified ON lesions in up to 37% of SLE patients [2] and in 44% of the hip and knee joints of SLE patients undergoing corticosteroid treatment [3]. Moreover, in patients with ON taking corticosteroids, SLE appears to be the most common underlying autoimmune disease [2,4].
