Open AccessNow you see it, now you don't – a case of “Vanishing Bone”
Author(s) -
Piggott Bruce
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
radiographer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.484
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 2051-3909
pISSN - 0033-8273
DOI - 10.1002/j.2051-3909.2004.tb00003.x
Subject(s) - osteolysis , medicine , conventional radiography , clavicle , disease , bone disease , plain radiography , radiology , fantasy , radiography , surgery , pathology , art , osteoporosis , literature
Vanishing bones – no, not the movie fantasy of the “Invisible Man” but a case of a rare disease which causes massive osteolysis or progressive bone dissolution. The idiopathic disease, which causes bone to be replaced by angiomatous tissue, has resulted in the disappearance of this patient's right clavicle and glenoid. Diagnostic evaluation can sometimes prove difficult but ironically in this age of higher technology, plain radiography has demonstrated to be more effective for a definitive diagnosis than Nuclear Medicine, MRI, CT, etc. The rate of progress of the disease is as unpredictable as the prognosis. While a variety of treatments have been tried, the results have been inconsistent and as yet there is still no consensus on successful patient treatment.