Osteoid Osteoma at the Lesser Trochanter: A Lesson in Mimicry

A 16-year-old female soccer player presented with an eight-month-old, insidious right-hip pain. The imaging workup demonstrated a cortically based lytic lesion at the level of the lesser trochanter with surrounding sclerosis, adjacent periosteal reaction, and a small soft-tissue mass. A biopsy revealed findings related to an osteoid-forming lesion with features of nuclear atypia. The patient's pathology referral returned a diagnosis of osteoid osteoma, and she was treated with CT-guided cryoablation. She had an excellent response and returned to full activities through nearly two years of surveillance. In similar patients approaching skeletal maturity, the differential diagnosis for bone lesions involving the lesser trochanter ranges from post-traumatic to primary oncologic processes. Given the implications of a missed malignancy, vigilance is required when treating young and active patients.