Fibrous Dysplasia of Bone - Presentation

Presentation

Especially when involving the skull or facial bones, the lesions can cause externally visible deformities. The skull is often, but not necessarily, affected, and any other bone(s) can be involved.

• Many patients have lesions localized in only one bone (monostotic fibrous dysplasia), affecting 70–80%.
• Others have them in many bones (polyostotic fibrous dysplasia).

In 3% of cases, people suffering from fibrous dysplasia also have endocrine diseases and skin pigmentation; the three together constitute McCune-Albright syndrome. These endocrine diseases include precocious (early) puberty, often occurring as early as 6 years old.

In most cases, fibrous dysplasia has no symptoms and is only diagnosed by accident during investigations for an unrelated medical problem. When symptoms occur, they can include:

• Pain - caused by the expansion of bone. Treatment for this is pain management therapy, analgesics and anti-inflammatory medication.
• Irregular bone growth
• Bone deformity
• Increased susceptibility to bone fractures (rare)