What is Enchondroma?
Enchondroma is a benign tumor that appears in cartilage tissue found inside the bone. In most cases, enchondromes are painless and do not lead to any unfavorable physical symptoms. However, if the tumor is unusually large or when multiple tumors are present, the person may suffer from bone fracture or deformity. Enchondrams most likely appear in small bones of hands or feet, although they can potentially affect any area of the body. Treatment is rarely required and the most common procedure involves surgically cutting off the tumor and repairing damaged bone tissue. They are most common in children and adolescents aged 10 to 20 years of age and appear to be approximately the same in men and women. Enchondroma is usually painless and does not determine unless the doctor does not notice in the diagnostic tests for other injuries or conditions.
The tumor can sometimes grow sufficiently large to exert pressure on the bone and cause its fracture. Constant pressure from enchondrome can also lead to deformitym in hands or legs. Sometimes several enchondromes are present in one bone in a state known as Ollier's disease. Maffucci syndrome is a similar condition where bone cartilage tumors are accompanied by blood vessel tumors. Ollier's disease and Maffucci syndrome can cause chronic pain, fractures and deformities.
If a physician suspects that the bone fracture or deformity is responsible for enchondrome, usually takes X -rays, magnetic resonance (MRI) scanning or other imaging tests to confirm the diagnosis. When the results of MRI or X -rays detect Enchondroma, the doctor decides on the best measures for treatment based on size, placement, etc. It is important that doctors carefully explore bone tumors to make sure that they do not show signs of cancer.
Surgery for setting broken or deformed bones is enough to avoid future effectsm small enchondromes. The large tumor is usually removed by a delicate surgery, which includes scratching enchondrome with scalpel and grafting new tissue on the bone. Patients are usually obliged to return to the doctor's office after surgery for regular MRI scanning to monitor bone healing. It is very rare that the tumor reappears, although a person with one enchondrome may have other undetected tumors in different parts of the body.