Fibrous Dysplasia Medpix

Description: The name fibrous dysplasia was coined by Lichtenstein in 1938 to describe a disorder of expanding fibro-osseous lesions that had been referred to as fibrous osteodystrophy, osteodystrophia fibrosa and osteitis fibrosa disseminata. Its etiology is unknown; however, the most widely accepted theory is that it is a developmental abnormality of mesenchyme in which osteoblasts fail to undergo normal morphologic differentiation and maturation. The medullary cavity is filled with fibrous tissue in which trabeculae of poorly calcified primitive new bone are developed by osseous metaplasia. Both sexes are equally affected. It begins early in life, often in infancy, but being frequently asymptomatic it usually remains unrecognized until adulthood.