2009 (update) Heterotopic Ossification eMedicine Radiology

Description: Radiology. Heterotopic ossification (HO) is the abnormal formation of true bone within extraskeletal soft tissues. Classically, many diseases sharing this common feature were lumped under the category of myositis ossificans, a term that has fallen into disfavor because primary muscle inflammation is not a necessary precursor and ossification does not always occur in muscle tissue since it frequently shows a predilection for fascia, tendons, and other mesenchymal soft tissues. The term heterotopic ossification largely has replaced myositis ossificans in the literature.