Osteoid osteoma multifocally located and recurrent in the carpus

The authors report a case of osteoid osteoma located simultaneously at the right carpitate and at the proximal part of the right third metacarpian. A 31-year-old man presented in 1997 an osteoid osteoma involving the right capitate. One year after the surgical excision of the tumor, a second osteoid osteoma reappears to the same place requiring a 2nd intervention. A 3rd osteoid osteoma was discovered 16 months later at the proximal part of the right third metacarpian. After every excision, the pathological aspect was compatible with a nidus of osteoid osteoma. Osteoid osteoma of capitate are very rare. Multifocal forms are exceptional. If relapses of the tumor are sometimes explained by the incomplete excision of the nidus, the pathogenesis of the true recurrence remains unclear.