Beukes Familial Hip Dysplasia

Symptoms, Doctors, Treatments, Advances & More

Beukes hip dysplasia (BHD) is a rare inherited skeletal dysplasia affecting the hip joint. In general, skeletal dysplasias are a group of disorders which affect the bone and cartilage. Skeletal dysplasias are more commonly known as types of dwarfism, but not all skeletal dysplasias cause a person to be short in height. In fact, BHD only affects the hip joint. A person with BHD is similar in height to other family members. There are no other health problems associated with BHD. Beukes hip dysplasia (BHD) causes severe progressive degenerative osteoarthritis of the hip joint in early adulthood. Symptoms of hip joint pain and discomfort usually begin in infancy or later childhood, but may also begin as late as the mid-30s. Severity of the condition varies even among family members. In fact some people who inherit the change in the gene which causes BHD never develop any problems with their hip joint. After symptoms begin, the characteristic signs of secondary osteoarthritis (including bone sclerosis, cyst formation and narrowing of the joint space) develop and the joint deteriorates rapidly. As of 2015, BHD has only been found in relatives of a single family in South Africa who were of European descent. BHD has affected many generations and members of this family. Family members with BHD now live in other parts of the world as well.