Bone xanthoma is a rare disease due to the presence of cholesterol deposits in the bone. We report a case of a 56-year-old patient who was hospitalized in orthopedic department for fracture on the left humerus. Histological examination of bone biopsy performed at this site has objectified cholesterol deposits. Laboratory tests showed hypercholesterolemia with hypertriglyceridemia. The diagnosis of bone xanthoma was selected. The fracture was treated surgically. An initial bone scan revealed bone lesions localized especially at the humerus and femur. The patient was put under fenofibrate and statins. The evolution was marked by gradual regression of lesions in bone scans of control.
BackgroundPrimary hyperparathyroidism revealed by a pathological fracture is very uncommon; in the majority of cases the discovery of lytic bone lesions on imaging examinations evokes in the clinician first a neoplastic etiology and a metabolic origin is often omitted. This case report adds to the existing literature as it describes an unusual presentation of primary hyperparathyroidism.Case presentationWe report a case of a 50-year-old Moroccan man, without any known tumor, who presented a fracture of his left clavicle with multiple osteolytic lesions on computed tomography suggesting bone metastases. However, bone scintigraphy oriented the diagnosis to a metabolic pathology by showing a metabolic bone “super scan” with increased tracer uptake in the left clavicle; parathyroid scintigraphy was able to localize pathological right parathyroid tissue.ConclusionsWhenever multiple osteolytic lesions are found in a patient without any known tumor, metabolic bone diseases including hyperparathyroidism should be highly considered.
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