FOCAL MYOSITIS IN CHILDHOOD - A CASE-REPO RT

An eleven year old boy presented with localized swelling of the left c alf which had been developing for more than 5 years, Another smaller m ass was found in the pretibial area, There was an invincible equinus d eformity of the foot. Surgical biopsies revealed characteristic histol ogical features of focal myositis showing necrotic and regenerating mu scle fibers, randomly distributed, with inflammatory infiltration. An intense fibrotic reaction was observed. This constitutes to our knowle dge the first reported case of focal myositis in wich development of m uscle sclerosis was so important that it was necessary to perform teno tomies one year after excision of the principal tumor in order to rest ore normal gait. A nearly two-years follow-up does not give evidence o f recurrent lesion.