[Tumors of the footbones- a report from the Hamburg Bone Tumor Registry]

Aim of the present study was a systematic examination of the tumors of the foot registered in the Hamburg Bone Tumor Registry regarding age, sex, location, diagnosis and morphological characteristics. The registry files and histological specimens of 367 tumors and tumor-like lesions of the foot were reviewed. Males were more frequently affected (ratio 4 : 3). Some 20.4 % of all mass forming tumors were malignant. Cartilage tumors (146 cases), cystic (132 cases) and osteoblastic lesions (33 cases) were most common. Several tumors showed a strong predilection for certain parts of the foot. In the calcaneus a solitary bone cyst was the most common lesion. Lesions in the talus and metatarsals with a similar morphology mostly represented intraosseous ganglion cysts. Other tumors in the calcaneus were mainly cartilaginous. Besides chondroblastoma, chondrosarcoma was regularly diagnosed. Chondroma was extremely rare at this site. Contrary to that chondroma was regularly found at the metatarsal and phalangeal bones, it was 4 times more common than chondrosarcoma. An even distribution showed aneurysmal bone cysts and osteoidosteoma. Very rare lesions were fibrous dysplasia, eosinophilic granuloma and intraosseous lipoma. The knowledge of the distribution of tumors in the foot is important for an exact differential diagnosis and thereby for biopsy planning, diagnosis and therapy.