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Health Dictionary

Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.

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Osteochondroma differential diagnosis

Introduction

Overview

Overview

Osteochondroma must be differentiated from other diseases that cause bone deformity, bone growth, overlying bursitis, and mechanical joint problems such as enchondroma, chondroblastoma, periosteal chondroma, and chondromyxoid fibroma.[1]

Differentiating Osteochondroma from other Diseases

Differentiating Osteochondroma from other Diseases

  • The table below summarizes the findings that differentiate osteochondroma from other conditions that cause bone deformity, bone growth, overlying bursitis, and mechanical joint problems.[1][2][3][4][5]
Disease Malignant lesion in patients

> 40 years

chondrogenic Histology Sacral lesions in elderly Treatment is wide resection alone
Chondrosarcoma + + + +
Metastic disease + – + –
Lymphoma + – + –
Myeloma + – + –
Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma + – + –
Secondary sarcoma + – – –
Enchondroma – + – –
Periosteal chondroma – + – –
Osteochondroma – + – –
Parosteal osteosarcoma – – – +
Adamantinoma – – – +
Chordoma – – – +
Squamous cell carcinoma – – – +
Differential Diagnosis Similar Features Differentiating Features
Enchondroma
  • Benign cartilaginous neoplasm
  • Usually found in children, enchondromas are asymptomatic
  • These tumors arise from remnants of the growth plate
  • Located in the metaphyseal region
  • Imaging features, such as:
  • Endosteal scalloping
  • Well circumscribed mass
  • Lytic lesions
Chondroblastoma
  • Benign cartilaginous neoplasm
  • Affects young patients
  • Located on long bones
  • They arise in the epiphysis or apophysis of a long bone
  • Classical location is the upper one-third of the tibia
Periosteal chondroma
  • Benign cartilaginous neoplasm
  • Commonly located on the proximal humerus and distal femur
  • Affects young patients
  • Symptomps are usually present for a long period of time
  • Imaging features, include:
  • No stalk or peduncle as in an osteochondroma
Chondromyxoid fibroma
  • Benign cartilaginous neoplasm
  • Located in the metaphyseal region of long bones
  • Occur in young adults (second and third decades)
  • Usually located in the tibia
References

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kitsoulis P, Galani V, Stefanaki K, Paraskevas G, Karatzias G, Agnantis NJ, Bai M (2008). “Osteochondromas: review of the clinical, radiological and pathological features”. In Vivo (Athens, Greece). 22 (5): 633–46. PMID 18853760.
  2. ↑ Peabody, Terrance (2014). Orthopaedic oncology : primary and metastatic tumors of the skeletal system. Cham: Springer. ISBN 9783319073224.
  3. ↑ Czerniak, Bogdan (2016). Dorfman and Czerniak’s bone tumors. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier/Saunders. ISBN 9780323023962.
  4. ↑ Frassica FJ, Unni KK, Beabout JW, Sim FH (1986). “Dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma. A report of the clinicopathological features and treatment of seventy-eight cases”. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 68 (8): 1197–205. PMID 3021775.
  5. ↑ Björnsson J, McLeod RA, Unni KK, Ilstrup DM, Pritchard DJ (1998). “Primary chondrosarcoma of long bones and limb girdles”. Cancer. 83 (10): 2105–19. PMID 9827715.

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Maria Fernanda Villarreal, M.D. [2]