Affiliations 

  • 1 Clinical Investigation Centre, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 National Orthopaedic Centre of Excellence for Research and Learning (NOCERAL), Department of Orthopaedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Singapore Med J, 2015 May;56(5):e92-5.
PMID: 26034328 DOI: 10.11622/smedj.2015082

Abstract

Any medical diagnosis should take a multimodal approach, especially those involving tumour-like conditions, as entities that mimic neoplasms have overlapping features and may present detrimental outcomes if they are underdiagnosed. These case reports present diagnostic pitfalls resulting from overdependence on a single diagnostic parameter for three musculoskeletal neoplasm mimics: brown tumour (BT) that was mistaken for giant cell tumour (GCT), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis mistaken for osteosarcoma and a pseudoaneurysm mistaken for a soft tissue sarcoma. Literature reviews revealed five reports of BT simulating GCT, four reports of osteomyelitis mimicking osteosarcoma and five reports of a pseudoaneurysm imitating a soft tissue sarcoma. Our findings highlight the therapeutic dilemmas that arise with musculoskeletal mimics, as well as the importance of thorough investigation to distinguish mimickers from true neoplasms.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.