Hemangioma of rib masquerading a malignancy

Abstract

Hemangioma of bone is a rare bone tumor accounting for <1% of all osseous tumors. Hemangiomas are common in skull and vertebrae but uncommon in rib. Rib hemangiomas may increase in size over a period and may cause symptoms due to increasing size. Preoperative diagnosis is not always possible due to overlapping radiological features between benign and malignant lesions. Use of preoperative aspiration and biopsy has their own risks and benefit. Excision of rib in case of monostotic rib lesions is the treatment of choice due to low risk of recurrence and no reported postoperative complications. We report a case of rib hemangioma which mimicked a malignancy preoperatively.

Keywords: Hemangioma; monostotic rib lesion; rib.