Huge osteoma in the frontoparietal bone caused by trauma from 18 years ago: a case report

Osteomas are asymptomatic, benign tumors and are diagnosed accidentally by radiological investigations conducted for other reasons. In some cases, they may cause aesthetic or functional symptoms by affecting nearby organs. The cause of osteoma is still dialectical. Many theories suggest that inflammation, trauma, or congenital causes are behind its formation. In our case, the patient presented with a symptomatic and huge osteoma in the frontoparietal bone caused by trauma from 18 years ago.

A 24-year-old Syrian woman came to our hospital complaining of headaches, syncope episodes, blurred vision, and tumor formation in the frontoparietal region. The medical and surgical histories of the patient revealed appendectomy and head trauma when she was 6 years old in a traffic accident. Radiological investigations showed thickness in the space between the two bone plates in the left frontoparietal region, which reached the orbital roof without cortical destruction or periosteum reaction; the tumor size was 5 cm × 5 cm. A surgical excision was indicated. Under general anesthesia, the surgery was done for the tumor excision. The histopathology examination emphasized the diagnosis of osteoma. The follow-up for 7 months was uneventful.

This paper highlights the importance of focusing on the medical history of patients with osteoma in an attempt to explain the reasons for its occurrence. It stresses the need to put osteoma within the differential diagnoses of skull tumors.