After black fungus, three cases of 'bone death' surface in COVID-19 recovered patients

There seems no end to bad news when it comes to Covid-19. With the decrease of Covid-19 cases in the country, new types of diseases are emerging in recovered coronavirus patients. At first, it was mucormycosis or black fungus and now it is avascular necrosis (AVN), also called 'bone death'. In this disease, the bone starts melting inside the patient's body due to the lack of blood flow, hence the name.

Avascular necrosis can be easily considered as the next crippling condition among post-Covid patients. According to a report in Times Of India, Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai treated three young, under forty, patients who developed avascular necrosis two months after they were treated for Covid-19. “These patients developed pain in their femur bone (the highest part of the thigh bone) and, since they were doctors, they recognised the symptoms and rushed for treatment,’’ said Dr Sanjay Agarwala, medical director of Hinduja Hospital.

The common factor between mucormycosis and avascular necrosis is the use of steroids, the only drug proven to help Covid-19 patients during the second wave of coronavirus. Dr Agarwala’s research paper, ‘Avascular necrosis as a part of long Covid-19’, was published on Saturday in the prestigious medical journal ‘BMJ Case Studies’. He said the “large-scale use of life-saving corticosteroids” in Covid-19 cases will result in a “resurgence of AVN cases”.

The symptoms of the disease may appear after 1-2 months of recovery from Covid-19. The effect of steroids continues to stay in the body till 5-6 months of the treatment. Anyone can be affected, but the condition is most common in people between the ages of 30 and 50.

Look out for symptoms such as pain in joints while putting pressure on it, the pain can be mild or severe and usually develops gradually. Avascular necrosis pain is associated with the hip, thigh or buttocks. Besides the hip, the areas likely to be affected are the shoulder, knee, hand and foot.