Fibrous Cortical Defect

  • Etiology:
  • Imaging:
    — Location: diaphysis or metaphysis, along axis of bone, around knee and distal tibia
    — Lytic or blastic: lytic with thin sclerotic rim and becomes sclerotic as they heal
    — Matrix: fibrous
    — Zone of transition: narrow
    — Periosteal new bone or cortical destruction: none
    — Additionally: cortically based but can look central when large, early is lucent and geographic with thin sclerotic margin, late is sclerotic and then remodels to normal
  • DDX:
  • Complications:
  • Treatment:
  • Clinical:

Radiology Cases of Fibrous Cortical Defect

Radiograph of fibrous cortical defect of the tibia
AP radiograph of the ankle shows a metadiaphyseal lesion that is lytic and within the cortex with a narrow zone of transition and a sclerotic rim and no periosteal reaction.
Radiograph of a pathologic fracture through a fibrous cortical defect
AP and lateral radiographs of the distal femur show a thin linear lucency running obliquely through a large, lucent, well corticated lesion in the femoral metaphysis.