A rare cause of lytic lesion: the brown tumors

Abstract

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is the third most common endocrine disease after diabetes and thyroid disease with the highest incidence in postmenopausal women.1 Osteitis fibrosa cystica or Brown Tumors represent a rare clinical manifestation of hyperparathyroidism dependent bone pathology, reported in approximately 3% of patients with prolonged PHPT,2,3 and correspond to radiologically osteolytic lesions with well-defined borders in different parts of the skeleton. We illustrate a case of PHPT with brown tumor, which was initially mistaken for malignant disease.