Acrophyseal growth arrest in a long-term survivor of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

Growth arrest at the secondary growth plate, also known as the acrophysis, is a rare phenomenon with only very few known published case reports. We report on a case of formation of ghost secondary ossification centers at the acrophyses of the knee joint in a 14-year-old female, who survived early childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The patient suffered from severe side effects from both disease and subsequent treatment strategies with a 10-month immobilization period as a consequence at the age of 3 years. The ghost secondary ossification centers were encountered on radiographs and MRI 10 years later, when she presented for evaluation of chronic pain in her left knee related to sports activities, due to a meniscal cyst. Awareness of this phenomenon is nevertheless important, because it seems that endochondral bone growth recovery at the acrophyses might be different from recovery in physes, because we found no concomitant sequelae of growth arrest in the metaphyses.