Diagnosis and Long-term Follow-up of Patients with Fibrous Dysplasia of the Chest Wall

Objectives: Fibrous dysplasia is a benign fibrous-osseous lesion of the bone and is generally seen in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical features and long-term follow-up of the patients with a histopathological diagnosis of fibrous dysplasia of the chest wall.Patients and Methods: A retrospective study was performed in 16 patients (all males; mean age 26.2 years; range 20-48 years) with histopathologically confirmed fibrous dysplasia who admitted to our department between 1995 and 2008. Patients were evaluated with respect to sex, age, symptoms, clinical features, radiologic and scintigraphic findings, surgical approach for diagnosis and treatment, hospital stay after operation, recurrence, morbidity and mortality.Results: Two patients were asymptomatic. The main symptoms were chest pain in 12 patients and chest wall swelling with chest pain in two patients. Thirteen patients had monostotic disease, and three polyostotic disease. The surgical treatment and biopsy were carried out in all patients with partial or total rib resections. The diagnosis was confirmed histopathologically. There were no postoperative morbidity and mortality. The median hospitalization was 5.6 (3-8) days. Follow-up was possible in 12 patients and ranged from 2 to 112 months (median 39.6 months). There was no recurrence or any other pathology.Conclusion: The clinical picture of fibrous dysplasia can be monostotic, polyostotic or more than one rib with extrathoracic involvement like our series. Although these lesions are benign, they should be followed up long term, especially in polyostotic disease.