Characteristics and postoperative recurrence factors of aneurysmal bone cyst in children′s limbs / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the characteristics of aneurysmal bone cysts (ABC) and related factors of postoperative recurrence, so as to improve the clinical diagnosis and treatment level of ABC in children.Methods:The clinical data of children pathologically diagnosed as ABC after surgery in the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University from January 2010 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed.Clinical characteristics of the patients, including age, gender, lesion sites, and main clinical manifestations (pain, swelling, local tenderness, joint dysfunction and pathological fracture) were analyzed and summarized.Before operation, imaging Enneking staging was carried out, cyst volume was estimated, and the distance from cysts to the epiphyseal plate was measured.During surgery, patients received lesion curettage, local cautery and bone grafting, and the pathological fractures were treated with auxiliary internal fixation.Results were determined by Neer imaging grading after surgery, and grades Ⅰ and Ⅱ were postoperative recurrence.Possible recurrence factors were analyzed statistically by Fisher′ s exact test. Results:A total of 29 cases meeting the criteria were included, including 19 males and 10 females.The age ranged from 3.6 to 14.0 years old, averaging 9.2 years old; 12 patients were smaller than 10 years old and 17 patients were older than 10 years old.The cysts of 9 cases were located in proximal femur (31.0%), 5 cases in proximal humerus (17.2%), and 4 cases in proximal fibula (13.8%); The other 11 cases (37.9%) occurred in the middle and distal end; 26 cases (89.7%) had local tenderness, 25 cases (86.2%) showed varying degrees of pain, 18 cases (62.1%) presented local swelling, 15 cases (51.7%) were accompanied by joint dysfunction, and 12 cases (41.4%) were combined with pathological fractures.According to Enneking staging results, 18 cases (62.1%) were at rest stage, 7 cases (24.1%) at active stage, and 4 cases (13.8%) at invasive stage.Cyst volume was estimated to be 3.3-172.0 cm 3, with a median of about 50.8 cm 3.The distance from cysts to the epiphyseal plate was 0-85.0 mm, with a median of 20.8 mm.All children were followed up for 2.2-10.1 years (averaging 3.8 years). There were 6 cases (20.7%) of grades Ⅰ and Ⅱ according to Neer grading standard, and they suffered from recurrence about 2.5-20.3 months after surgery (averaging 12.5 months). The recurrence rate was higher in patients with cyst volume >50.8 cm 3 (42.9%, 6/14 cases) as well as in patients at active stage and invasive stage (45.5%, 5/11 cases) ( P<0.05). There was no statistical difference between the recurrence rate of ABC in different gender, age, the distance from cysts to the epiphyseal plate and pathological fractures. Conclusions:ABC is prone to occur in the proximal metaphysis of the long bones of children′s extremities.Main manifestations are pain, swelling, local tenderness and joint dysfunction, and ABC is frequently accompanied by pathological fractures.A higher postoperative recurrence rate is related to a larger cyst size and the active and invasion phases of the cyst, but gender, age, the distance from the cyst to the epiphyseal plate and pathological fractures are not significantly related to the postoperative recurrence rate.