Curettage through a wide cortical window for treatment of a primary aneurysmal bone cyst of the patella

Abstract

A 27-year-old man presented with intermittent right knee pain for 1 year with no previous trauma. Physical examination revealed only tenderness over the patella. Typical fluid–fluid levels were visible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which highly suggested aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) of the patella. After removal of a large window of thin cortical bone, curettage and bone grafting followed by cerclage wiring was performed. Histology confirmed the initial diagnosis of primary ABC of the patella. At the final follow-up visit at 71 months after surgery, the patient had normal joint activity with no pain or evidence of recurrence. Previous publications indicated patellectomy in the initial series, but curettage and bone grafting have more recently provided excellent results and good graft incorporation in most cases, even for aggressive lesions. In our patient, thorough curettage and bone grafting through a wide cortical window followed by cerclage wiring fixation and figure-eight sutures was a successful treatment option for primary ABC of the patella without articular disruption.

Chondroblastoma of the patella with secondary aneurysmal bone cyst, an easily misdiagnosed bone tumor:a case report with literature review

“…Among these, GCT is the commonest, accounting for 33% of all patella bone tumor cases, followed by CB and ABC at 16 and 5%, respectively. Similarities and differences between them in terms of onset characteristics, clinical presentations, physical examinations, imaging findings, histone H3.3 mutation, pathology, and treatments are summarized in Table 1 [5][6][7][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Although there are many similarities, each has its unique imaging and pathological characteristics.…”