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A bullet-sired bone cyst

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Abstract

Random gunfire deposited a bullet in the proximal tibial metaphysis of a 9-year- old girl. The wound was not incapacitating and was treated conservatively. Within 17 months, soreness developed in the proximal leg, and radiography revealed a large unicameral cyst within which the bullet freely tumbled. Eventually, fear of impending fracture prompted further radiography, computed tomography, surgical intervention and pathological examination of the cyst wall. We believe this is only the second description in the English-language literature of this rare sequence of events.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, University of South Alabama Medical Center, 36617, Mobile, AL, USA

    B. G. Brogdon

  2. Orthopaedic Associates of West Florida, Clearwater, FL, USA

    W. C. Cottrell

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of South Alabama Medical Center, Mobile, AL, USA

    P. Nimityongskul

  4. Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    D. Takhtani

Authors
  1. B. G. Brogdon
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  2. W. C. Cottrell
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  3. P. Nimityongskul
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  4. D. Takhtani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. G. Brogdon.

Additional information

Presented, in part, at the Annual Meeting of the International Skeletal Society, Quebec City, Canada, 3 September 2001.

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Brogdon, B.G., Cottrell, W.C., Nimityongskul, P. et al. A bullet-sired bone cyst. Skeletal Radiol 35, 959–963 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-006-0138-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-006-0138-9

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