NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
What are bone islands?
Are bone islands common? On ct scans can you tell if it`s a benign bone island or if it`s a bone tumor?
Bone islands (enostoses) are common and represent areas of hard cortical bone where one would usually have spongy trabecular bone. They are a normal variant and are typically incidentally found. I have never known one to cause a problem.
CT can be diagnostic but there is often concern about these lesions representing an early blastic (bone-forming) metastasis from breast or prostate cancer. If the patient is without symptoms, observation (follow-up CT) is recommended. If there is significant concern for metastasis, biopsy may be recommended. I hope that this helps.
Patrick J Getty, MD
Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University