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Vascular bone tumors: a proposal of a classification based on clinicopathological, radiographic and genetic features

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Abstract

The classification of vascular bone tumors remains challenging, with considerable morphological overlap spanning across benign to malignant categories. The vast majority of both benign and malignant vascular tumors are readily diagnosed based on their characteristic histological features, such as the formation of vascular spaces and the expression of endothelial markers. However, some vascular tumors have atypical histological features, such as a solid growth pattern, epithelioid change, or spindle cell morphology, which complicates their diagnosis. Pathologically, these tumors are remarkably similar, which makes differentiating them from each other very difficult. For this rare subset of vascular bone tumors, there remains considerable controversy with regard to the terminology and the classification that should be used. Moreover, one of the most confusing issues related to vascular bone tumors is the myriad of names that are used to describe them. Because the clinical behavior and, consequently, treatment and prognosis of vascular bone tumors can vary significantly, it is important to effectively and accurately distinguish them from each other. Upon review of the nomenclature and the characteristic clinicopathological, radiographic and genetic features of vascular bone tumors, we propose a classification scheme that includes hemangioma, hemangioendothelioma, angiosarcoma, and their epithelioid variants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ortopedia Generale, Orthopaedic Service, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Rizzoli-Sicilia, Bagheria, Italy

    Costantino Errani & Cesare Faldini

  2. Pathology Service, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy

    Daniel Vanel, Marco Gambarotti & Marco Alberghini

  3. Laboratory for Cancer Research, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy

    Piero Picci

  4. Dipartimento Rizzoli-Sicilia, Struttura Complessa Ortopedia Generale, Strada Statale 113Km 246, 90011, Bagheria, PA, Italy

    Costantino Errani

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  1. Costantino Errani
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Correspondence to Costantino Errani.

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Errani, C., Vanel, D., Gambarotti, M. et al. Vascular bone tumors: a proposal of a classification based on clinicopathological, radiographic and genetic features. Skeletal Radiol 41, 1495–1507 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-012-1510-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-012-1510-6

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