sara
I had severe hip pain. Thought it was just arthritis. Went to several doc's then to Mayo. The Mayo Dr. said the femar was deteriating and I needed a hip replacement. At this point we did not know that the reason for the deteriation was pigmented villanodular synovitis. We didn't know this until during the surgery, which complicated the replacement a bit. What I was told was that it needs removed before more damage is done by the disease. If I had waited longer it would have attacked my siatic nerve!! It was dangerously close at the time of surgery. The upside is this is fixable and only occurs in one joint, so once removed you are home free. I went to the medical library at the hospital and at Mayo and got a lot more details as to the history of the disease. It gave me comfort to know exactly what this was I was dealing with.