Osteosarcoma Arising in a Polyostotic Fibrous Dysplasia: A Case Report

ABSTRACT

Fibrous dysplasia is a skeletal developmental anomaly of the bone-forming mesenchyme that manifests as a defect in osteoblastic differentiation and maturation. It is a nonhereditary disorder of unknown cause. In fibrous dysplasia, the medullary bone is replaced by fibrous tissue, which appears various imaging findings. It is usually an incidental finding, generally not requiring further investigation. However, fibrous dysplasia may be complicated by pathologic fracture, and rarely by malignant degeneration. We present the image findings of a 44-year-old man who had a chondroblastic osteosarcoma arising from polyostotic fibrous dysplasia in the femur. Evidence of cortical destruction on plain radiography and soft tissue mass in the lesion on MR images suggested a tumor of malignant transformation.