The diagnosis and therapeutics of the juxta-articular bone cyst in the acetabulum / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To discuss the diagnosis, differential diagnosis and therapeutics of the juxtaarticular bone cyst in the acetabulum. Methods Between August 1990 to April 2009, nineteen cases of clinical data of the juxta-articular bone cyst in the acetabulum data were collected from hospital records and analyzed retrospectively. There were 11 males and 8 females, with an average age of 42.3 years (range, 18-59). Seventeen patients felt an aching pain in the hip. The duration of symptoms was from 2 months to 20years with the median 15 months. All the radiographs showed a well-demarcated oval or circular radiolucent defect, close to subchondral bone, and outlined by a thin rim of sclerotic bone. Five cases accompanied with developmental dysplasia of the hip. After curettage of the bone cyst, 14 patients received iliac crest autogenous bone grafts, 3 patients received xenoma spongy bone-graft particles, and 2 patients received artificial bone grafts. Results Fourteen patients were precisely diagnosed as bone cyst by radiograph, and 4 patients were diagnosed by CT and MRI. The major axes of the focus were 2-4 cm in 16 patients, and 4-8 cm in 3patients. The sizes of the focus had no relationship with the symptoms and the course of the disease. Seventeen cases of the focus were located at the anterior superior of the bearing surface of the acetabulum. All patients were successfully followed up from 11 months to 13 years, averaged 6.2 years, and no relapses occurred during the follow-up period in every case. Fourteen patients felt asymptomatic, 3 patients felt uncomfortable in hip occasionally, and 2 patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip felt ameliorated in the initial stage of the therapy, followed by aggravation accompanying the hip joint space narrow. Conclusion Bone graft after thorough curettage of the capsular space was an effective therapy for the juxta-articular bone cyst in the acetabulum, and the anatomic distribution of radiological lesions indicated that the stress concentration maybe the etiological factor of the bone cyst.