- HONG KONG (AFP) -- Health
officials said yesterday some patients who recovered from the potentially
fatal Sars are suffering from bone disease, possibly linked to steroid
treatment used to combat the virus.
-
- A spokesman for the Hospital Authority said that some
recovered Sars patients are suffering from avascular necrosis.
-
- This results from the temporary or permanent loss of
the blood supply to the bones, causing bone tissue to die and the possible
collapse of the bone.
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- The disease commonly affects long bones such as the femur,
which extends from the knee to the hip.
-
- The amount of disability that results from avascular
necrosis depends on which part of the bone is affected, the size of the
affected area and how effectively the bone rebuilds itself.
-
- 'We are still studying whether the bone disease is linked
to the treatment received by Sars patients or whether it is caused by Sars
itself,' said the spokesman.
-
- However, she conceded that bone weakness was a known
side effect of steroid treatment.
-
- No estimates were available for the number of recovered
Sars patients who could be suffering from the bone disease, but the authority
would attempt to track down and test all patients, she added.
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