A solitary osteochondroma of the capitate bone: A case report

Abstract

A 30-year-old manual laborer complained of a painless swelling of 8 months' duration on the dorsum of his right wrist. There was no history of injury. Examination showed a 4 X 3 em very hard nodular mass, which was not tender, fixed to the underlying carpal bones. The overlying skin was normal. There was some limitation of wrist extension. A plain x-ray film revealed a bony excrescence related to the distal carpal row (Fig. 1), and a cr scan of the wrist showed it to arise from the capitate (Fig. 2). At operation it was found to be a gray-white, firm tumor attached to the capitate. The tumor had a central bony stalk with a covering of cartilage. Histologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of osteochondroma (Fig. 3).