Intraosseous hemangioma of the rib mimicking an aggressive chest wall tumor

Bone hemangiomas are extremely rare in the ribs, with only a handful of cases reported in the literature. A case of a rib hemangioma is presented in which the pre-resection diagnosis was an aggressive chest wall tumor. The plain film, CT, MRI and bone scan features of the lesion were reviewed with the pathological correlation. On imaging, the lesion was expansile and lytic, and it also had fine bony trabeculae. The lesion also demonstrated growth beyond a disrupted bony cortex, suggesting malignancy. This case report adds to the literature on this rare condition and discusses the issues in the diagnosis of chest wall tumors.