Published in:
Open Access 01-12-2010 | Case report
Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the distal femur after an arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A case report and a review of the literature
Published in: BMC Cancer | Issue 1/2010
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Background
Malignant degeneration in association with orthopaedic implants is a known but rare complication. To our knowledge, no case of osseous malignant fibrous histiocytoma after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is reported in the literature.
Case presentation
We report a 29-year-old male Turkish patient who presented with severe pain in the operated knee joint 40 months after arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. X-ray and MR imaging showed a large destructive tumor in the medial femoral condyle. Biopsy determined a malignant fibrous histiocytoma. After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, wide tumor resection and distal femur reconstruction with a silver-coated non-cemented tumor knee joint prosthesis was performed. Adjuvant chemotherapy was continued according to the EURAMOS 1 protocol.
Conclusions
Though secondary malignant degeneration after orthopaedic implants or prostheses is not very likely, the attending physician should take this into consideration, especially if symptoms worsen severely over a short period of time.