Infantile cartilaginous hamartoma of the rib - A case report

BACKGROUND: Infantile cartilaginous hamartoma of the rib is a rare conditio n occurring in newborn infants, with an incidence of 1 in 3,000 (0.03%) amo ng primary bone tumor cases. Reports of this condition so far have presente d the clinical, radiologic and histopathologic-features. To the best of our knowledge, reports of the cytopathologic features have not been documented . In the present case report, clinical, radiologic and cytopathologic featu res and differential diagnosis are enumerated. CASE: A 1-month-old, male infant presented with a chest wall mass with a cl inical diagnosis of osteochondroma. On fine needle aspiration cytology, a d iagnosis of infantile cartilaginous hamartoma of the rib was suggested; it was supplemented by the clinical history and radiologic findings. CONCLUSION: Although rare, this condition ought to be kept in mind while de aling with infantile chest wall masses to avoid an erroneous diagnosis of m alignancy, owing to its ominous cytopathologic features.