A 26-year-old, previously healthy man sustains blunt force trauma to the left upper arm. On physical examination, there is focal swelling and redness. Three weeks later, the superficial contusion has resolved, but now a slightly tender mass is palpated in the outer aspect of the upper left arm. A radiograph of the left arm shows a 5-cm mass in the soft tissue. There is a radiolucent center and surrounding irregular bone formation. One month later, the mass is now 3 cm and painless. CT scan of the arm shows a well-circumscribed mass within muscle with areas of bright calcification throughout. What is the most likely diagnosis?

Correct Answer: Myositis ossificans
Description: Myositis ossificans is an uncommon, exuberant repair reaction following soft-tissue trauma to muscle in which there is metaplastic bone formation. The keys to diagnosis are the location within soft tissue, calcification beginning at the periphery, and decrease in size over time. Gouty tophi can form in soft tissues, but there is typically a history of gouty arthritis first, and the lesions do not calcify. A hem- arthrosis forms with joint trauma and hemorrhage in and around the joint capsule, but does not involve calcification. An osteochondroma is a bony exostosis projecting from bone into soft tissue. An osteosarcoma that rarely arises in soft tissue must be distinguished from myositis ossificans; the latter is characterized by the mature shell of bone, lack of enlargement, and lack of bone or soft-tissue destruction. Polymyositis involves inflammation with degeneration and regeneration of muscle fibers, but there is no mass effect and no calcification.
Category: Pathology
Share:

Get More
Subject Mock Tests

Practice with over 200,000 questions from various medical subjects and improve your knowledge.

Attempt a mock test now
Mock Exam

Take an exam with 100 random questions selected from all subjects to test your knowledge.

Coming Soon
Get More
Subject Mock Tests

Try practicing mock tests with over 200,000 questions from various medical subjects.

Attempt a mock test now
Mock Exam

Attempt an exam of 100 questions randomly chosen from all subjects.

Coming Soon
WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.