We investigated coagulation disorders in Korean patients of idiopathic avascular necrosis of the femoral head.

Ten laboratory parameters related with coagulation pathway were measured and analyzed in fifty-three patients with idiopathic avascular necrosis of the femoral head and compared the results with those of thirty-one healthy persons.

Differences in the values of plasminogen activator inhibitor and D-dimer in the two groups were statistically significant (p<0.05). The number of three or four abnormal parameters in the patient group was nearly twice that of the control. Hypofibrinolytic activity, determined by increased plasminogen activator inhibitor and lipoprotein(a), were observed in eleven cases (20.8%) of the patient group.

The abnormal results that were observed in the patient group may contribute to the predisposition of thrombotic venous occlusion in the head of the femur, leading to avascular necrosis of the femoral head.