Bone density in patients with chondromalacia patella.

Chondromalacia of the patella is the most common cause of anterior knee pain in young women. The etiology of the disease is not well-understood but the initial lesion is a disorganization of collagenous structures. Since the disease is proposed to be due to generalized constitutional disturbance, we postulated that bony structures could also be involved. To investigate this hypothesis we measured the bone density of 286 patients with the diagnosis of chondromalacia of the patella during a 4-year period using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) method. We found a significant number of patients having low bone densities. This problem was more pronounced in men and in younger age groups. We suggest base-line bone density evaluation in all patients, treatment of osteopenia or osteoporosis in select patients and regular follow-ups using DXA.