Case: Bone & joint disease radiograph #2689165
Bone & joint disease Intermediate
Read this radiograph systematically before revealing the answer. What is the main abnormality?
Image: Tdvorak via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · resized and converted to WebP
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Answer: Heterotopic ossification
What to look for in heterotopic ossification
- Mature bone forming in soft tissues, often around the hip after surgery or trauma, or after neurological injury.
- Matures from the periphery inwards, giving a well-defined cortical rim (compare with the central ossification of osteosarcoma).
- Separate from the underlying bone or only loosely attached.
Description by the image author (may be in another language): Heterotopic ossification of the elbow, s/p comminuted fracture and arthroplasty
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.
