Clinical-morphological peculiarities of osteoblastomata and their differential diagnosis

Abstract

Osteoblastoma (OB) is a rare benign osteogenic tumour formed by interwoven with one another osteal trabeculae, which are surrounded by a lot of osteoblasts. The purpose of the present work was to elucidate the nomenclature and main clinical-visualizing pathohistologic features of OB as a true osteogenic tumor, as well as some aspects of its differential diagnosis with other osteogenic tumors and tumor-like bone lesions. Forty-three cases of biopsies obtained from 39 patients with OB served as the material for this research. The article contains data about clinical-visualizing features of OB (X-ray and CT), its macropathology, histopathology and differential diagnosis, as well as clinical-morphological gradations of osteogenic tumours. It was found out that OB passed clinically as an active or aggressive form with signs of a local destructive growth and inclined to relapsing in case of its incomplete removal, but very seldom it subjected to malignancy. OB often becomes an object of complicated differential-diagnostic solutions, which are possible only with application of both clinical-visualizing and histological methods with priority of the latter ones. The nosological units for differential diagnosis of OB should include the following ones: osteoid-osteoma, ossifying periostitis, chronic osteomyelitis (corticolitis-periostitis), osteoblastoma-like central osteosarcoma with a low grade of malignancy.