Chondroblastoma of the patella associated with an aneurysmal bone cyst

Chondroblastoma is a rare, benign tumor of bone, accounting for about 1% of all bone tumor cases. It tends to affect the epiphyseal ends of long bones, most often in males during the first and second decades of life. It has well-characterized radiographic and histologic features but despite its histologically benign appearance a few cases of metastases have been reported. Local recurrences after curettage and bone grafting occur in 11% to 25% of cases. The features of a patellar chondroblastoma are the same as for other locations. In reviewing the literature we found an unusually high male-to-female ratio. It is interesting that the usual treatment of the patellar chondroblastoma has been patellectomy, whereas curettage and bone grafting has predominated in the other locations. We present a computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging study of a case of chondroblastoma of the patella associated with an aneurysmal bone cyst. To our knowledge, it is the seventh case reported and the second with computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging studies. We also review and discuss in detail all the cases of patellar chondroblastoma that we found in the literature.