Juxtacortical chondrosarcoma

Abstract

The features are described of seven cases of "juxtacortical" chondrosarcoma, the term introduced by Jaffe for a rare but distinct entity and now accepted in the World Health Organisation classification as preferable to the term "periosteal" chondrosarcoma. In all cases the lesion involved the shaft of a long bone, most often the femur, and in two cases two different long bones were affected. Six of the seven patients were male and all were in the second decade. The characteristic appearance was that of a small tumour adjacent to the cortex with areas of spotty calcification often accompanied by radiating bone spicules perpendicular to the bone shaft and a typical Codman's triangle. Histologically all the tumours showed a cartilaginous lobular pattern, well limited on the surface and seldom infiltrating the cortex; areas of spotty calcification and enchondral ossification were often present but tumour osteoid and bone were conspicuously absent. Despite the ominous histological aspect, the prognosis proved to be relatively favourable compared with the usual central chondrosarcoma of a similar grade of malignancy.