Presentation
Pain in the right index finger following trivial trauma. Fracture?
Patient Data
Expansile cystic lesion in the base of the index finger metacarpal with a narrow zone of transition. It is predominantly lucent with an internal matrix.
Cortical step and thin radiolucent line on the radial aspect that extends into the lesion.
A small amount of callus has formed in the interim consistent with a healing fracture of an underling benign bone lesion.
From Dr Matt Skalski's case.
Case Discussion
The hand is a common site for enchondromas, many of which are identified incidentally on imaging.
Enchondromas are one of the commoner benign bone lesions.
To be termed a pathological fracture the underlying bone lesion need not be malignant. It merely indicated an inherent weakness of the bone due to an underlying lesion of an alternative pathology.