Bone tumors in children: Round cell sarcoma of the thigh: A case report

Abstract

Introduction and importance: Bone tumor in children is a very large pathology and represents about 5% of pediatric cancers located mainly in the limbs. This is a case of a rare form of bone tumor of the round cell sarcoma type of the right femur in an 18-month-old female infant whose diagnosis and therapeutic decision are specific.

Case presentation: We present an 18-month-old girl, admitted to the panzi general reference hospital and presenting a painful swelling of the right thigh evolving for more than a month and which gradually increased in size in a febrile context with ipso-lateral inguinal adenopathy; Bone biopsy revealed round cell sarcoma and immunohistochemistry was not available. While waiting for chemotherapy, the proposed surgery was a hip disarticulation in an 18-month-old girl.

Clinical discussion: Early discovery of the tumor at infant age is rare, it can occur in any part of the limb. The lower end of the femur and the upper end of the tibia or fibula account for 60% of cases. Its diagnosis is not easy, the management and improvement of the prognosis are linked to the use of chemotherapy and local treatment and conservative surgical resection, avoiding amputation or disarticulation. It is not easy to accept, neither for the child's parents nor for the healthcare team.

Conclusion: Thigh sarcoma in an infant is rare and atypically discovered when faced with complications, infection or remote signs with difficulty in diagnosis and management; multidisciplinarity is very necessary, also involving psychologists despite the poor prognosis.

Keywords: Bone tumors; Case report; Children; Round cell sarcoma; Thigh.

Fig. 1

Overview of the mass at Clinical inspection.

Fig. 2

X-ray image of the right thigh after biopsy sample.

Fig. 3

X-ray image of the right thigh before the biopsy sample, a: Front and b: Profile