Multimodality imaging of greater trochanter lesions

Abstract

Introduction: Greater trochanter (GT) lesions are relatively uncommon. They can be traumatic, infective including tuberculosis, inflammatory, and neoplastic (primary and metastatic osseous lesions). Although imaging of greater trochanter lesions remains essential for differential diagnoses, an image-guided biopsy is a mainstay for diagnosis and to guide subsequent management. Material and methods: A retrospective search for the word ‘greater trochanter’ was performed of a computerised radiology information system (CRIS) of a tertiary referral centre for orthopaedic oncology over a period of 12 years (2007-2019). This revealed 6019 reports with 101 neoplasms. The imaging, histology, and demography were reviewed by a dedicated musculoskeletal radiologist. Results: We identified 101 GT neoplasms with a mean age of 51.5 years (range 6 to 85 years) and a slight female pre-dominance of 1.2: 1 (46 males and 55 females). Using 30 years of age as a cut-off, we further segregated the patient cohort into 2 groups: 26 (25.74%) lesions in patients less than 30 years age and the remaining 75 (74.26%) lesions in patients over 30 years old. Chondroblastoma was the most common neoplasm in patients below 30 years of age, and metastases were the most common neoplasms in patients over 30 years of age. Conclusions: Greater trochanter pathologies show a broad spectrum of aetiologies. Imaging including radiographs, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and nuclear medicine scans help to narrow down the differen-tials diagnosis.