Original articlePediatric rib lesions: a 13-year experience
Section snippets
Materials and methods
A retrospective chart review of all patients with primary rib lesions evaluated in the Department of Surgery at Children's Hospital Boston from 1992 to 2005 was performed. Thirty-three patients, ages 3 to 23 years (median, 12.7 years), were evaluated. Patient's diagnosis, sex, symptoms and their duration, radiologic workup, biopsy status, surgical procedure, and follow-up were documented. Patients with tumors arising from the lung, soft tissue, sternum, or scapula, and those patients with
Results
A total of 33 patients met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen patients (48%) had benign and 17 (52%) had malignant lesions. There were 17 females (52%) and 16 males (48%) included in the study, with males comprising a slightly higher percentage (62%) of the benign lesion cohort and females comprising a slightly higher percentage (65%) of the malignant lesion cohort.
The presenting symptoms reported were similar between the malignant and benign groups. Specifically, of the 16 benign rib lesions
Discussion
Rib tumors are rare entities in the pediatric population. However, a significant number of rib lesions are malignant. Our study, representing the experience of a major tertiary pediatric hospital, demonstrated a 52% incidence of malignant vs benign lesions. Selection bias likely influences the observed patient population, with a trend toward more complex (ie, malignant) lesions; conversely, a more general pediatric or surgical practice might observe a trend toward simpler (ie, benign) lesions.
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These authors contributed equally to the study.