Case report of bone mastocytosis: total hip arthroplasty for osteoarthritis and open reduction for condylar fracture of the knee.

A 72-year-old woman was admitted in 1984 for painful protrusive osteoarthritis of the left hip diagnosed as systemic mastocytosis with bone lesions and clinical features of intestinal malabsorption but no clinical skin lesion. The total hip replacement, refused in a first step because of the bone pathology, was carried out two years later. Signs of loosening appeared after one year. In 1990, following a traumatic bicondylar fracture of the left knee, an osteosynthesis was carried out. Ten days later, a shaft pathologic fracture of the femur above the osteosynthesis plate implied another open reduction. Two and a half years later, the patient is able to walk short distances, using walking sticks, and lives at home receiving social assistance.