Bone island

[bejuce]

Has anyone had a bone island show up on a scan? I had a few on my CT scan last week. My bone scan was clean. Should I be worried that this could be the start of bone mets and be confident that it's nothing to worry about?

Thanks!!!

[Lani]

not to worry.


Skeletal Radiol. 1995 Feb;24(2):111-5.
Bone island (enostosis): current concept--a review.
Greenspan A.
Source
Department of Radiology, University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento 95817, USA.
Abstract
An enostosis or bone island represents a focus of mature compact (cortical) bone within the cancellous bone (spongiosa). Thought by some to be a tumor-like condition and by others a hamartoma, this benign lesion is probably congenital or developmental in origin and reflects failure of resorption during endochondral ossification. A bone island can be virtually diagnosed based on its characteristic clinical and radiologic features. Typically asymptomatic, the lesion is usually an incidental finding, with a preference for the pelvis, femur, and other long bones, although it may be found anywhere in the skeleton, including the spine. Plain radiography reveals a homogeneously dense, sclerotic focus in the cancellous bone with distinctive radiating bony streaks ("thorny radiation") that blend with the trabeculae of the host bone, creating a feathered or brush-like border. On CT scan, a bone island appears as a low-attenuation focus, and on MRI sequences it shows low signal intensity like cortical bone. A distinguishing feature of bone islands is that they are usually "cold" on skeletal scintigraphy. Thus, bone scan has been and continues to be the means of differentiating bone islands from the more aggressive entities. However, reports of histologically confirmed bone islands that were scintigraphically active have raised a note of caution about relying on this modality in the differential consideration of lesions otherwise characteristic of bone islands. Guides to the correct diagnosis should be looked for in the individual clinical situation and in the morphological features of the lesion on plain radiography, CT, and MRI, without regard to the lesions activity on bone scan.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

PMID: 7747175

Thus bone islands are benign and have NOT been associated with malignant disease, whether primary or metastatic.

[Jackie07]

Talk to your doctor if you are worried about it. Here's an article in Medscape on the subject:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/387758-overview

[bejuce]

Thank you so much!!!

[Mtngrl]

I'm so glad you asked! I have a "bone island" too. My oncologist said not to worry about it, but didn't explain what it is.