A 23-year-old women recently diagnosed with SLE and started on prednisolone. She fails to keep her 1-month follow-up appointment with you because she is feeling so well. She returns after 3 months with complaints of pain in her right hip. She says the pain had a gradual onset and has been getting worse over the past 4 weeks. She describes it as a deep, achy pain that is worse with weight bearing and motion. The pain also wakes her up at night. There are no other joints involved. She denies fevers or trauma. On examination, she is afebrile with normal vital signs. Results of her examination are unremarkable except for her right hip pain. She is uncomfortable with motion of her hip but there is no limitation to range of motion, no crepitance, and no effusion noted.
Which of the following tests would you order to help you make the diagnosis?
A. Plain film x-rays of the hip
B. Joint aspiration with synovial fluid analysis
C. Bone biopsy
D. Technetium-99m bone scan of the hip
E. MRI of the hip
Which of the following tests would you order to help you make the diagnosis?
A. Plain film x-rays of the hip
B. Joint aspiration with synovial fluid analysis
C. Bone biopsy
D. Technetium-99m bone scan of the hip
E. MRI of the hip