Bone and articular cartilage tumours as seen in the Dept. of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University

Abstract: The incidence of bone and articular cartilage tumours in Ethiopia is unknown. In those countries where incidence rates are studied, neoplasms of bone and articular cartilage are among the most uncommon of all types of tumours. To determine the relative incidence of bone and articular cartilage tumours and the distribution of specific diagnosis by age, sex and anatomic locations, a retrospective descriptive study was conducted from November 1967 to December 1996 in the Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University based on surgical biopsy results. There were six hundred and eighty-nine patients; 400 (58%) had benign tumours and 289 (42%) had malignant tumours giving a benign to malignant ratio of 1.4:1. Osteochondroma was the most common benign bone tumour with 36.5% followed by chondroma (20.5%), Giant cell tumour (13.75%), Osteoma (11.5%), and others (17.75%). Osteosarcoma constitutes 35.1% of all primary malignant bone neoplasms, followed by chondrosarcoma (27.1%), Ewing’s Sarcoma (11.1%), Multiple myeloma and fibrosarcoma (8.9% each), and others (8.9%). Metastatic neoplasms are much more common than are primary malignant tumours of bone in Western English literatures. In this material metastatic neoplasms (64 cases) were preceded by osteosarcoma (79 cases). In this study, 74% of benign and 47% of malignant bone and articular cartilage tumours occurred in the age group between 10 and 29 years of age with males out numbering females in most cases. The experience insite localization of the various bone tumours in this series was in accord with that of other observers. It is hoped that the information in this study may be used as a guide to preoperative diagnosis or as a baseline for future study to see the national frequency of these tumours. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1998;12(2):125-134]