A clinical, analytical, and radiological study was carried out on three members of the same family with multicentric idiopathic osteolysis.Transmission appeared to be via the dominant autosome present in the mother and two daughters. In the daughters osteolysis was seen in the carpal and tarsal bones, whereas in the mother radiology showed it to be in the phalanges of the hands and feet. This 18 year old woman has deformity in the flexion of the fifth fingers of both hands. Her delivery and subsequent development were normal with no history oftrauma. Her symptoms began with pain, slight swelling, and limitation of movement in her wrists at the age of 5 years, accentuated by slight traumas. She had occasional pain in her elbows, right shoulder, dorsal spine, left knee, and dorsum of the left foot, with slight swelling in the left knee and foot. There were no constitutional symptoms, but she was depressive from 14 years of age.On physical examination her blood pressure was 110/70 mmHg, her weight 45 kg, and height 155 cm. She was in good general health but was of low intelligence. Her gait was normal and her cervical spine slightly painful in left lateral flexion but with normal mobility. There was right convexity scoliosis of the dorsal rachis. Her wrists had a painful flexoextension limitation at 200 and decreased bilateral strength. The left ankle and midfoot were painful in planar flexion. There was pain when pressure was applied to the metatarsophalangeal joints of the left foot. She had also bilateral hallux valgus and feet cava (grade II) with claw feet.Her differential blood count, globular sedimentation rate, and blood and urine chemistry (creatinine, calcium, ;phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, IgM rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibodies, and mucopolysaccharides in urine) were normal.Radiological examination showed deformity in the flexion of both fifth fingers and carpal osteolysis and hypoplasia of the tufts of the distal phalanges (fig 1). Figure 2 shows the morphology of cava feet; the left foot was the most affected and was 1 cm shorter and narrower than the right. Osteolysis was present in the tufts of the bilateral distal phalanges and the tubular diameter of the left foot metatarsals was decreased. Dorsal scoliosis and right convexity of the rachis was seen. Spina bifida was classified as SI.