Eosinophilic granuloma of bone: direct steroid injection

Abstract

Eosinophilic granuloma of bone is a benign condition that was described as a distinct clinical and pathological entity by Lichtenstein and Jaffe [1] and Otani and Ehrlich [2] in 1940. One year later, Farber suggested a pathological gradation including eosinophilic granuloma, Hand-Schuller-Christian disease, and Letterer-Siwe disease [3]. In 1953, Lichtenstein consolidated these three entities under the term “histiocytosis X”, thereby emphasizing the inflammatory proliferative reaction common to all three forms of the disease as well as their indefinite etiologies [4]. Eosinophilic granuloma is generally accepted to represent the benign localized form of the disease, while Hand-Schuller-Christian and Letterer-Siwe diseases are thought to be disseminated types; however, the validity of this unifying concept is controversial and other authors stress their individual nature inspite of certain histological similarities [5, 6, 7].