Case: Bone & joint disease radiograph #14546225
Bone & joint disease Intermediate
Read this radiograph systematically before revealing the answer. What is the main abnormality?
Image: Hellerhoff via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · resized and converted to WebP
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Answer: Bone metastases
What to look for in bone metastases
- Lytic (destructive), sclerotic (dense) or mixed lesions, often multiple.
- Typical sites are red-marrow areas: spine, pelvis, ribs, skull and proximal long bones.
- A missing pedicle on the spine AP view ('winking owl') is a classic sign; check for pathological fracture.
Description by the image author (may be in another language): Osteoblastische Knochenmetastasen bei Mamma-Karzinom im Röntgenbild des Beckens
Educational case. The diagnosis comes from the image's documented source; the "what to look for" list describes the condition in general and is not a report of this individual image.
