Pediatric Bone Tumors: Location and Age Distribution of 420 Cases

Abstract

Background/Objectives: One of the most important diagnostic tools in bone tumors is X-rays. Preliminary and, in the case of some benign lesions, definitive diagnoses are formed using this basic tool. Part of the decision making in this stage is based on statistical probability using the patient’s age, as well as the incidence and predilection sites of different entities. The information used today is based on older and fragmented data. To verify the underlying principles, we retrospectively evaluated all bone tumors in children and adolescents treated by our tertiary center in the last 20 years. Methods: For this retrospective study, patients under the age of 18 years suffering from histopathologically verified bone tumors were evaluated. Data were retrieved from our local musculoskeletal tumor database. Results: We were able to include 420 children treated for bone tumors in our tertiary center. The cohort consisted of 335 benign and 85 malignant lesions. The most common lesions were 137 osteochondromas; the malignant tumors consisted mainly of osteosarcomas (53) and Ewing’s sarcomas (28). The primary predilection sites were the metaphyses of long bones. Conclusions: We were able to confirm and supplement the fragmentary data of these rare diseases using our own cohort.