Xiphoid chondroma?

Among benign tumors, enchondroma is a very common tumor. Generally, enchondroma refers to a cartilage tumor that occurs in the medullary cavity. The incidence of xiphoid process enchondroma is highest in adolescents, and most early enchondromas have no symptoms. When the disease develops to a certain extent, it will cause deformities in the toes, accompanied by a feeling of soreness and swelling, which is very harmful to the human body. What are the symptoms of xiphoid process enchondroma?

What are the symptoms of xiphoid chondroma?

1. The clinical manifestations of enchondroma are related to the location and size of the tumor. There may be no symptoms in the early stage. As the tumor increases in size, corresponding clinical symptoms and signs appear. Enchondromas have a destructive effect on normal cartilage, while exophytic ones only have a compressive effect, causing the normal cartilage underneath to become thinner. The main clinical feature of intracranial disease is headache. If it occurs outside the laryngeal cartilage, it may manifest as a lump in the neck that is hard, non-tender, and cannot be separated from the laryngeal cartilage and moves with swallowing. If it occurs in the larynx, it may manifest as hoarseness, wheezing, dysphagia and progressive dyspnea.

2. Most patients are between 10 and 50 years old. The disease progresses slowly and generally has no obvious symptoms. It is often only after several years when the tumor grows and causes deformity or intermittent dull pain that the patient's attention is drawn. Multiple enchondromas can be seen in the upper limbs, with the fingers gradually becoming thicker, the ulna often shorter than the radius, and the forearm bending toward the ulnar side. In the lower limbs, enlarged toes, genu valgum, and unequal lengths of the two lower limbs can be seen.

3. When it occurs in the finger (toe) bones, it is generally in the center, with clear edges and neat cystic transparent shadows. The affected bone cortex expands and thins. Scattered sand-like dense spots can be seen in the transparent shadow. This is the main X-ray sign of enchondroma. When it occurs in the metacarpal (metatarsal) bones, the tumor shadow is sometimes larger, often biased towards the bone ends, and the expansion of the bone cortex is also more significant, but there is no periosteal reaction. In cases occurring in the long bones of the limbs, the tumor shadow is extensive. When the tumor becomes malignant, cortical bone destruction and periosteal reaction can be seen.

Heel chondroma is common in people aged 20 to 40. The tumor tissue is mostly composed of cartilage tissue, which is lobed and hard in texture. It may undergo secondary cystic changes or be multilocular. Microscopically, enchondroma resembles normal cartilage, but has a disordered structure and tumor cells of uneven size. If the tumor grows faster in a short period of time and invades adjacent structures, it often indicates the possibility of malignant transformation. 1% to 2% of benign enchondromas can transform into chondrosarcomas. Microscopically, densely packed cells and increased nuclear division can be seen in the tumor tissue.

What are the symptoms of heel enchondroma?

1. The clinical manifestations of enchondroma are related to its location and size. There may be no symptoms in the early stages, but as the tumor grows in size, corresponding clinical symptoms and signs appear. Enchondromas have a destructive effect on normal cartilage, while exophytic ones only have a compressive effect, causing the normal cartilage underneath to become thinner. The main clinical feature of intracranial disease is headache. If it occurs outside the laryngeal cartilage, it may manifest as a lump in the neck that is hard, non-tender, and cannot be separated from the laryngeal cartilage and moves with swallowing. If it occurs in the larynx, it may manifest as hoarseness, wheezing, dysphagia and progressive dyspnea.

2. Most patients with heel enchondroma are between 10 and 50 years old. The disease progresses slowly and generally has no obvious symptoms. It is often only after several years when the tumor grows and causes deformity or intermittent dull pain that the patient's attention is drawn. Multiple enchondromas can be seen in the upper limbs, with the fingers gradually becoming thicker, the ulna often shorter than the radius, and the forearm bending toward the ulnar side. In the lower limbs, enlarged toes, genu valgum, unequal lengths of the two lower limbs, and spinal column deviation can be seen.

3. Heel chondroma grows slowly, but it can cause compressive absorption and destruction of surrounding soft tissues and bone walls, and invade adjacent organs. X-ray examination shows destruction of normal structures and calcification and ossification of tumor tissue. Plain CT scan shows high but uneven density shadows. The tumor is lobed with clear boundaries. Calcification and ossification are often seen. The cystic change area is low-density. After enhancement, the non-calcification and cystic change areas may be enhanced. MRI examination may show uneven low-signal areas, T2 is high to medium signal areas, and calcification and ossification parts appear as low-signal areas.