Telangiectatic Osteosarcoma in a Young Child - A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Osteosarcoma (OS) is one of the most common primary malignant bone tumors in children and adolescents. OS incidence varies significantly with age and peak incidence is in adolescent age group. Telangiectatic osteosarcoma (TOS) is an unusual variant of OS, forming 3-10% of all OSs. Only few case reports of this rare variant of OS are described in the literature.

We report a 6-year-girl who presented with fracture of the left proximal humerus after a trivial trauma. X-ray left shoulder showed osteolytic lesions in the left proximal humerus with fracture of proximal humerus. Open biopsy from the left proximal humerus osteolytic lesion suggested clusters of highly atypical cells like osteoid material and focal areas of hemorrhage and necrosis suggestive of TOS. The child was started on chemotherapy followed by limb-salvage surgery with wide resection of the tumor in the left proximal humerus. She completed her adjuvant chemotherapy and is currently doing well for the past 4 years.

OS occurs more frequently in adolescents around the knee in the metaphyses. The most common histologic type is osteoblastic/fibroblastic or chondroblastic type. Very few cases have been reported in <5 years age group and it's relatively rare in 5-10-year-old children. Rare histologic variants, especially telangiectatic variant, are more common in younger children and occur more in upper limbs. Imaging reveals mainly osteolytic lesions, unlike in conventional OS. This case highlights the utmost role of histopathology in the diagnosis of the bone tumors which would guide the management appropriately.