Benign Osteoblastoma

Abstract

This paper presents clinical and pathological material from twenty additional cases of benign osteoblastoma, making a total of some thirty-one that have been observed to date. These benign osteoid-forming and bone-forming tumors are encounted most often in children or teen-agers, particularly in limb bones, the vertebral column, and the calvarium. The roentgen picture may not be sufficiently distinctive to permit accurate identification. In some lesions, the microscopic picture may resemble that seen in osteoid osteoma; in others, there may be a variety of additional distinctive patterns, which have been illustrated. When an osteoid-forming and bone-forming lesion provokes marked reactive osteosclerosis around it, it is designated as an osteoid osteoma, rather than benign osteoblastoma, even though it may be substantially larger than the usual osteoid osteoma. In 2 of the cases in this series, the tumor developed eccentrically on the surface of a long bone, rather than in the interior. These 2 tumors are unusual: they were interpreted provisionally as the periosteal counterpart of benign osteoblastoma. Surgical treatment shoud be conservative, in keeping with the benign character of the tumor. In the treatment of benign osteoblastoma in the vertebral column, impinging on the spiral cord or its nerve roots, the surgeon should be content to accomplish decompression, promptly followed by roentgen irradiation.