Natural Course and the JIC Classification of Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head

To standardize clinical definitions and management of idiopathic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH), criteria for the diagnosis, classification, and staging of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) were developed in 1986 by the Japanese Investigation Committee (JIC) under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Welfare [1]. Since then, revision was made three times and the 2001 version [2] is still used widely in Japan. We describe here the JIC diagnostic criteria and JIC classification of ONFH.