The successful use of radiotherapy for osteoblastoma

We report a case of osteoblastoma arising in the petrous temporal bone of a 16-year-old boy. Attempts at surgical resection were unsuccessful. The patient was treated with radiotherapy and is now well 10 years later. A review of the literature indicates that radiotherapy has been used rarely for this tumour and some have felt it to be detrimental. Our report illustrates a case where planned radiotherapy has been successful when full surgical resection had not been possible.