Aneurysmal bone cyst. Long-term follow-up of 20 cases.

Twenty cases of aneurysmal bone cyst were reviewed, with an average follow-up of 10.3 years. Twelve patients still had open growth plates at diagnosis, but all of them were fully grown at follow-up. The treatments performed were: resection of the cyst or of the whole affected bone, curettage, and curettage and bone grafting. Radiation therapy was a complementary treatment in three cases. Two patients relapsed, one that had been treated by curettage alone and one by curettage and bone grafting. Five patients showed skeletal deformities at follow-up. Two had lesions of the growth plate, most likely caused by radiation therapy, whereas in the other three growth had probably been impaired by surgical trauma.