ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Ortopedica e Traumatologica 2008 June;59(3):141-5

Copyright © 2008 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

“Solid” variant of aneurysmal bone cyst

Tosco P. ¹, Boffano M. ², Linari A. ³, Faletti C. ⁴, Albertini U. ⁵, Gino G. C. ⁵, Brach Del Prever E. M. ⁵

¹ Dipartimento di Ortopedia e Traumatologia AO CTO/Maria Adelaide, Torino, Italia 2 Scuola di Specializzazione in Ortopedia e Traumatologia Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italia 3 Servizio di Anatomia Patologica AO OIRM S. Anna, Torino, Italia 4 Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini AO CTO/Maria Adelaide, Torino, Italia 5 Unità Complessa di Chirurgia Oncologica e Ricostruttiva, Dipartimento di Ortopedia e Traumatologia AO CTO/Maria Adelaide, Torino, Italia

Aim. The aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) is a rare disease. Its solid variant may be easily confused at histology with neoplasms, even malignant ones, in particular osteosarcoma. The aim of this paper is to define its clinical, histopatological and epidemiological characteristics and to analyze the treatment of this peculiar lesion.
Methods. Analysis of a case of a solid ABC variant localized in the left clavicula, further complicated by a pathological fracture, treated with curettage and phenol/alcohol local adjuvants. Bibliographic research using PubMed, Ovid and Scirus was done, keywords were “aneurysmal bone cyst”, “solid variant”. Inclusion criteria: articles in English, French, Italian; no restriction for the type of paper.
Results. ABC, solid variant, has been described in 18 articles, 4 case reviews, 11 case reports, 1 retrospective study and 2 letters to authors. The articles explain the main clinical, histological and radiological features, treatment options and localization of this pathology. The solid ABC can be defined as a very rare variant of the more common classical ABC. Treatment by curettage and local adjuvants seems to be the most common technique adopted.
Conclusion. ABC is a relatively infrequent benign lesion. Symptomatology is varied and aspecific. Diagnostic imaging does not suffice in the presence of the solid variant differently from the “classical” one and, therefore, the preliminary diagnosis is to be confirmed by histology. Curettage, followed by local adjuvants, reduces relapses and/or persistence of the disease.