Unusually large solitary unicameral bone cyst: case report

Abstract

A 15-year-old boy presented with complaints of pain and swelling of the right leg. Radiography revealed a large lytic lesion involving the proximal half of the tibia. The patient was taken to surgery, where the cavity was curetted and packed with allogeneic bone graft. Tissue was sent for histopathological evaluation. The patient was kept in an above-knee cast for 4 months, after which partial weight-bearing was allowed. The histopathological diagnosis was a unicameral bone cyst. A radiograph at 1 year showed incorporation of the graft, but a small part of the cavity was still visible and there was a persistent discharge. The patient was again subjected to allogeneic bone grafting in the remaining cavity. At 3.5 years of follow-up now, the patient is walking unsupported, there is no pain, and the radiograph shows complete obliteration of the cavity. Unicameral bone cysts are usually a few centimeters in size. To the best of our knowledge, a unicameral bone cyst of such a large size has never been reported in the literature.