Deposition of intraosseous fat in a degenerating simple bone cyst

Intraosseous lipomas originating from simple bone cysts

PURPOSE

Fatty or part-fatty intraosseous lesions are occasionally encountered while imaging the skeletal system. A number of case reports have proposed involution of calcaneal bone cysts to intraosseous lipomas, but this has never been proven. This paper sets out to prove that simple bone cysts (SBCs) can involute to fatty lesions indistinguishable from intraosseous lipomas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The pathology and PACS databases at 2 specialist orthopedic hospitals were retrospectively interrogated for all cases of intraosseous lipomas or SBCs with cross-sectional imaging follow-up for SBCs and precursor or follow-up imaging for intraosseous lipomas, in the time period from August 2007 to December 2016. For intraosseous lipoma cases, these were only included if change in imaging appearances was observed.

RESULTS

There was no case of change in the appearance in intraosseous lipomas. Six cases of SBC with cross-sectional imaging follow-up were identified in one participating hospital and none in the other. The 6 cases were comprised of 4 male and 2 female patients. Two were located in the proximal humerus, one in the proximal tibia, and 3 in the os calcis. All cases demonstrated filling in of the cystic lesion with fat from the periphery, in 2 cases complete filling in, and in 4 cases partial fatty conversion.

CONCLUSION

SBCs can heal with fatty conversion of the cystic cavity, with partly cystic remnants. It is proposed that at least part of the so-called intraosseous lipomas are healed simple bone cysts.

Intraosseous "Lipoma" of the Calcaneus Developing in an Intraosseous Ganglion Cyst

Intraosseous lipomas are rare primary bone tumors, most common to the calcaneus. There are several proposed theories of the natural etiology of intraosseous lipomas; however, all lack definitive support. In this report, an 18-year-old man presented with radiologic evidence of a simple bone cyst of the calcaneus. Over a 4-year period, the patient was followed with interval magnetic resonance imaging. The cyst demonstrated progressive development of peripheral intralesional fat with final magnetic resonance imaging features characteristic of an intraosseous lipoma. To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study that shows gradual peripheral fat deposition within an intraosseous ganglion cyst, illustrating a potential cause of intraosseous lipomas of the calcaneus.

Huge Subchondral Cyst Communicating with Medulary Canal of Femur in OA Knee-Treated by Extension Stem and Bone Grafting

INTRODUCTION

We report an osteoarthritic patient with huge sub-chondral cyst-like lesions in the Anterior part of distal femur. Deep and large bone defects and severe lateral laxity due to Advanced osteoarthritis was successfully treated with semi-constrained type total knee arthroplasty with long stem.

CASE REPORT

A 70yrs old Female was admitted in our institution diagnosed with severe bilateral Osteoarthritis. The x-rays showed bone on bone Tricompartment OA Knee with Varus Malalignment. She was posted for Single Stage Bilateral Total Knee Replacement and as planned the Left Knee Was Operated first. After exposure, Proximal Tibial, Distal Femoral Cuts and measurement of extension gaps the synovium from the anterior Femur was removed and sizing was done. The AP cut was then proceeded with. We spotted a small Osteochondral Cyst in the Anterior Femur which was curretted to remove the cystic material, which is when we realised that the cyst was large and communicating with the medulary canal. The remaining Femoral preparations was done keeping in mind the risk of iatrogenic fracture and extension Stem was used in the femur. The defect was then packed cancellous bone graft.

CONCLUSION

If suspected a Preoperative MRI should be done to exclude any sub-chondral cysts osteochondral defects and any surprise during surgery. Usually one should keep extension stems ready for difficult cases. Operating surgeon should know his implants very well, as in many standard implants extension stems can only be used when distal femur cuts are taken accordingly as 5° Valgus. Mini incision should be avoided because it may fail to reveal such surprises and may land into periprosthetic fractures.

Treatment of unicameral bone cyst: systematic review and meta analysis

PURPOSE

Different treatment modalities have been utilized to treat unicameral bone cyst (UBC), but evidence has not been fully described to support one treatment over another and the optimal treatment is controversial. The aim of this quantitative systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of different UBC treatment modalities.

METHODS

We utilized Pubmed to isolate retrospective studies on patients with UBC who received any kind of treatment. The included studies needed to have a minimum sample size of 15 patients, and have provided data on radiographic healing outcome.

RESULTS

Sixty-two articles were selected for the meta-analysis from a total of 463 articles. The cumulative sample size was 3,211 patients with 3,217 UBC, and male to female ratio was 2.2:1. The summary or pool estimate of methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) injection resulted in a healing rate of (77.4 %) that was comparable to bone marrow injection (77.9 %). A higher healing rate was observed with MPA injection when inner wall disruption was performed. The pool estimate of bone marrow with demineralized bone matrix injection was high (98.7 %). UBC healing rate after surgical curettage was comparable whether autograft or allograft was utilized (90 %). UBC treatment with flexible intramedullary nails without curettage provided almost 100% healing rate, while continuous decompression with cannulated screws provided 89 % healing rate. Conservative treatment indicated a healing rate of 64.2, 95 % CI (26.7-101.8).

CONCLUSIONS

Active treatment for UBC provided variable healing rates and the outcomes were favorable relative to conservative treatment. Due to the heterogeneity of the studies and reporting bias, the interpretation of these findings should be handled with caution.

Magnetic resonance imaging of hip tumors

After initial evaluation with radiography, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is the most common modality used to establish the diagnosis and characterize osseous and soft tissue tumors of the hip. Tumors involving the proximal femur are often benign, and MR imaging can be specific in diagnosing solitary bone cyst, osteochondroma, and chondroblastoma. Benign and malignant soft tissue tumors about the hip are often nonspecific in their MR imaging appearances, but knowledge of the patient's age may direct a more limited differential diagnosis. In the setting of malignancy, MR imaging is commonly used to stage tumors and follow patients postoperatively.

MR imaging of the knee: incidental osseous lesions

The knee joint remains the articulation most frequently assessed by MR imaging, and osseous tumor and tumor-like lesions are not uncommon incidental imaging findings. This article reviews the most commonly encountered incidental lesions, emphasizing the characteristic MR imaging features. It is intended not as a complete review of the imaging findings associated with these lesions but as a summary, highlighting the MR imaging features that are most useful in suggesting a specific diagnosis. The authors organize incidental lesions into the following broad categories: cartilaginous, fibro-osseous, and degenerative. They do not address those lesions that are typically symptomatic and, as a result, likely to be directly related to the patients' clinical presentation and subsequent imaging.

Intracortical lipoma of the femur

Intracortical lipoma is an extremely rare benign primary bone tumor. We encountered a case of an intracortical lipoma found incidentally in the femur of a 31-year-old female. Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography of the femur demonstrated an intracortical fatty lesion in the posterolateral aspect of the diaphysis. The intracortical lesion showed some intramedullary extension, multiple septations, and dot-like calcifications. Intralesional curettage was performed. Histologically, the tumor consisted of mature, viable adipocytes without foci of fat necrosis or dystrophic calcification.

The role of MR imaging in the diagnostic characterisation of appendicular bone tumours and tumour-like conditions

MRI has an established role in the local staging of primary bone tumours. However, as the majority of tumours have non-specific appearances on MRI, the diagnosis is usually established on the basis of clinical history, plain film findings and biopsy. This article reviews the value of MRI in the further characterisation of appendicular bone tumours and tumour-like lesions, with particular reference to peri-lesional oedema, fluid-fluid levels, flow voids, fat signal, cartilage signal and dedifferentiation. These features are a useful adjunct for distinguishing between benign and malignant disease, pointing towards a more specific diagnosis, and guiding biopsy.