Osteochondromas

Synonyms

Solitary osteochondroma, hereditary multiple exostoses, post-traumatic osteochondroma, post irradiation osteochondroma, osteocartilaginous exostosis, Ollier's disease.

Definition

An osteochondroma is a cartilage-covered osseous excrescence that arises from the surface of a bone. The most frequent type of osteochondroma is a solitary osteochondroma which is relatively frequent. Solitary osteochondromas are 20-50% of all benign bone tumors. Etiology is unclear. 70-80% of osteochondromas occur in patients who are younger than twenty years of age. The vast majority of solitary osteochondromas are asymptomatic and detected as an incidental finding. Typical characteristic course is a non-tender, painless, slowly growing mass. However, some subjects may experience pathologic fracture through the exostosis, irritation or damage to adjacent nerves or vessels, spinal cord compression if they occur on the vertebral bodies or even urinary tract obstruction. The anatomic