Chondroblastoma

Chondroblastoma is a rare bone tumor, usually benign with a slow-growing nature.

In children, it is the most common epiphyseal tumor.^[1]

Presentation

It originates from chondroblasts, hence the name. It occurs in about 1% of bone tumors in the United States. Typically, it causes muscle deterioration, decreased movement in joints and pain. Found in patients from the age of 3-73.

Prognosis

Without surgical excision, the tumor may extend into the to distant organs. Metastasis most frequently involves the lungs and tends to occur at the time of primary tumor recurrence. Relatively high rate of tumor recurrence (10-35%) has been reported for chondroblastomas.

Treatment

Some treatments for this type of tumor are removing the part of the bone that the tumor is in, scraping out the infected area and put in bone graph material to replace the lost bone. Another treatment that is far less invasive and has less recovery time is radiofrequency ablation.

References

• Chondroblastoma, by Bonnie P Fines, MD, at e-medicine
• Chondroblastoma, by Hannah D Morgan, MD at e-medicine