Avascular Necrosis in Cadaveric Renal Allografts1

While it has been known for many years that avascular necrosis of the femoral head can occur in the absence of any obvious æetiological factor, the proportion of patients receiving steroid therapy who develop this lesion, while low, is much higher than that in the adult population in general. This is a report of 6 such cases, occurring in a series of 34 patients with functioning renal grafts. The reasons for the development of the lesion are discussed, with special consideration of the possible role of infection in the ætiology.