This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mankin, H. J. Articles by Gebhardt, M. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mankin, H. J. Articles by Gebhardt, M. C.

Aneurysmal Bone Cyst: A Review of 150 Patients

From the Orthopedic Oncology Service, Massachusetts General Hospital and Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Address reprint requests to Henry J. Mankin, MD, Orthopedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114; e-mail: hmankin{at}partners.org

PURPOSE: We have reviewed a series of 150 aneurysmal bone cysts treated over the last 20 years.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The lesions were principally located in the tibia, femur, pelvis, humerus, and spine and, in most cases, presented the imaging appearance originally described by Jaffe and Lichtenstein as a blowout with thin cortices.

RESULTS: Only one of the patients was believed to have an osteoblastoma of the spine with secondary development of an aneurysmal bone cyst, and none of the patients developed additional lesions. The patients were treated primarily with curettage and implantation of allograft chips or polymethylmethacrylate, but some patients were treated with insertion of autografts or allografts. The local recurrence rate was 20%, which is consistent with that reported by other centers.

CONCLUSION: Aneurysmal bone cysts are enigmatic lesions of unknown cause and presentation and are difficult to distinguish from other lesions. Overall, the treatment is satisfactory, but it is possible that newer approaches, such as improved magnetic resonance imaging studies, may help diagnose the lesions and allow the physicians to plan for more effective treatment protocols.

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest are found at the end of this article.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. M. Oliveira, M. M. Chou, A. R. Perez-Atayde, and A. E. Rosenberg Aneurysmal Bone Cyst: A Neoplasm Driven by Upregulation of the USP6 Oncogene J. Clin. Oncol., January 1, 2006; 24(1): e1 - e1. [Full Text] [PDF]