Minor Shoulder Injury Reveals Spontaneous Regression Of Proximal Humerus Osteochondroma
Kalifis, G., Sr, Marin Fermin, T., Sr, Konstantinou, E., Raoulis, V., Sr, & Hantes, M., Sr (2021). Minor Shoulder Injury Reveals Spontaneous Regression of Proximal Humerus Osteochondroma. Cureus, 13(7), e16793. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.16793
View Original Source →Abstract
Osteochondromas are the most common benign bone tumor; nonetheless, the natural history is poorly understood as a result of the low threshold for resection and the fact that many of these lesions are asymptomatic and therefore never diagnosed. We present a case of a 17-year-old patient whose routine shoulder X-ray evaluation, due to a minor shoulder injury, revealed spontaneous regression of a previously documented left proximal humerus osteochondroma at six years follow-up. The likelihood of spontaneous regression should be better understood by orthopedic surgeons and taken into account in the decision process of whether to remove osteochondromas surgically or wait.
Case Details
Disease Location
Humerus
Personal Characteristics
17-year-old male.
Clinical Characteristics
Two weeks of mild anterior shoulder ache of insidious onset, without a history of trauma, exacerbated by intense physical activity. The patient had a history of a solitary osteochondroma of the left proximal humerus at the age of 11 years, which was decided to be left untreated.
Remission Characteristics
During the current admission physical examination of the left shoulder showed a full range of motion equal to the uninvolved limb, without evidence of shoulder girdle muscle weakness. Plain x-rays of the left proximal humerus were normal
Treatment & Mechanisms
Proposed Remission Mechanisms
Progressive incorporation of the lesion in the cortex by positional growth of the adjacent bone