Diagnostic value of trephine biopsy in bone disease

A clinical diagnosis of myeloma was made in a 44-year-old woman with anaemia, a markedly raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, osteolytic lesions in the pelvis, and a pathological fracture of the femur. Confirmatory trephine biopsy showed, instead of plasma cell infiltration, destruction of the normal micro-anatomy of the marrow with bridging fibrosis, gross osteoclastic proliferation, and areas of new bone formation. These are the features of hyperparathyroidism. Subsequently, a solitary adenoma of the parathyroid glands was demonstrated and resected. This case illustrates the value of examination of the trabeculae in trephine biopsy specimens in the diagnosis of bone disease.