Ernest E. Aegerter

Primary and Secondary Aneurysmal Bone Cyst: A Radiological Study of 75 Cases

Radiological findings in 75 cases of aneurysmal bone cyst were analyzed. Sixty-five per cent were primary or simple and 35% were secondary, the aneurysmal bone cyst being combined with other osseous lesions. A primary aneurysmal bone cyst can be diagnosed with a high degree of certainty, but only 20% of secondary forms had the radiological appearance of aneurysmal bone cyst; in the other 80% the associated lesion dominated the radiological picture, particularly when it was malignant. In the secondary form a small biopsy specimen may show the features of aneurysmal bone cyst only; without radiological assistance a concomitant malignant lesion may be missed. Therefore, there must be close collaboration between the radiologist and and the pathologist.

The Heart in Progressive Muscular Dystrophy

A case of progressive muscular dystrophy with cardiac involvement in a young Negro man is reported. The presenting problem was cardiomegaly and congestive heart failure. It was not until compensation was achieved that the underlying myopathy became apparent. Death was unexpected and presumably sudden. An unusual finding at the postmortem examination was the marked thickening of the endocardium. The literature in regard to the clinical and pathologic manifestations of cardiac involvement in this myopathy is reviewed.

Benign tumors of bone and soft tissues

The benign tumors of bone and related softtissuesconstitute a heterogeneous groupwithbehaviormore characteristic of hamartoma than true neoplasm. In deed, if one insists that growth of the true tumor must,by definition, be continuous and unrestricted, thenalloftheselesions, with the possiblexceptionof benign giant-cell tumorofbone,probablyfall into thehamartomacategory. Theirrelatively innocuousbehavior,however,does not lessentheexigencyof accuraterecogni tion, since overdiagnosis might conceiv ably result in the mutilating therapy that is necessary for the malignant lesions they may resemble both clinically and by roent genogram. Classification is difficult on a clinical basis because of the wide variety of ana tomical sites and therefore a heteroge neous symptomatology. Though the exact cytogenesis of several of this group is unknown or unproved, they are all of †̃¿ nesenchymalorigin and thus they can be classified according to the particular mesenchymal derivative from which they arise. Each of thebenign“¿ tumors― f bone falls into one of three series, osteogenic, chondrogenic, or fibrogenic. There are no benign tumors arising from marrow con stituents. The following is a list of the benign “¿ tumors― of bone according to theirmesenchymalderivation.