A Rare Case of Gorham’s Disease: Primary Ulnar Involvement with Secondary Spread to the Radius and Elbow

Reza Tavakoli Darestani,Amir Sharifzadeh,Mohammadmahdi Bagherian Lemraski,Ramin Farhang Zanganeh

doi:10.5812/traumamon.9905

Reza Tavakoli Darestani, Amir Sharifzadeh + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5812/traumamon.9905

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Abstract

IntroductionGorham’s disease is a rare musculoskeletal disease which causes progressive osteolysis and is characterized by massive bone destruction due to proliferation of vascular elements along with a great number of osteoclasts. The etiology of the disease is unknown. Gorham’s disease is essentially rare in the forearm bones. As far as we know, only 2 cases of Gorham’s disease of the forearm have been reported with 1 of them in the radius and the other starting in the radius and spreading to the lower portion of the humerus.Case PresentationThis case report shows that Gorham’s disease may affect the ulna primarily and spread to adjacent bones despite the fact that there are no such reports in the literature.ConclusionsGorham’s disease has several manifestations as primary bone involvement. As in this rare case the ulna may be affected first and then the disease may spread to adjacent bones. More studies are needed to better recognize the behavior of this rare disease.

Highlights

Gorham’s disease is a rare musculoskeletal disease which causes progressive osteolysis and is characterized by massive bone destruction due to proliferation of vascular elements along with a great number of osteoclasts
There are many diseases that cause significant osteolysis. These syndromes differ according to the mode of transmission, accompanying signs and symptoms and the location of osteolysis [1]
As far as we know, only 2 cases of Gorham’s disease in the forearm have been reported [10,11,12,13] with 1 of them in the radius [13] and the other starting in the radius and spreading to the lower portion of the humerus [10]

Summary

Introduction

There are many diseases that cause significant osteolysis. These syndromes differ according to the mode of transmission, accompanying signs and symptoms and the location of osteolysis [1]. Gorham’s disease is a rare musculoskeletal disease which causes progressive osteolysis [1,2,3]. This disease was first reported in 1838 by Jackson [4,5,6,7]. Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education: Gorham’s disease is a rare musculoskeletal disease which causes progressive osteolysis. This case report shows that Gorham’s disease may affect the ulna primarily and spread to adjacent bones. As far as we know, only 2 cases of Gorham’s disease in the forearm have been reported [10,11,12,13] with 1 of them in the radius [13] and the other starting in the radius and spreading to the lower portion of the humerus [10]

Case Presentation

Conclusions