Aseptic Necrosis and Bone Infarcts (death of portions of bone)

Bone marrow is responsible for creating new blood cells and in a healthy body, these cells navigate the narrow blood vessels found marrow and make their way into the circulatory system. Aseptic necrosis occurs when blood cells are mutated due to sickle cell disease. Marrow becomes clogged by those rigid, mutated proteins and without fresh blood being delivered to the bone, portions of bone risk dying and collapsing.

Aseptic necrosis favors longer bones, such as those found in the legs and upper arms. As such, people who have this condition often complain of worsening pain in their knees, hips or shoulders. There have been some promising advances in medicine dealing with bone death. Allogeneic stem cell transplants are a procedure whereby adding healthy portions of marrow to a diseased bone, it will begin producing normal hemoglobin. This procedure requires a donor with a close match of bone marrow.