title: Diagnostic value of trephine biopsy in bone disease.
abstract: A clinical diagnosis of myeloma was made in a 44-year-old woman with anaemia, a markedly raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, osteolytic lesions in the pelvis, and a pathological fracture of the femur. Confirmatory trephine biopsy showed, instead of plasma cell infiltration, destruction of the normal micro-anatomy of the marrow with bridging fibrosis, gross osteoclastic proliferation, and areas of new bone formation. These are the features of hyperparathyroidism. Subsequently, a solitary adenoma of the parathyroid glands was demonstrated and resected. This case illustrates the value of examination of the trabeculae in trephine biopsy specimens in the diagnosis of bone disease.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006961:Hyperparathyroidism / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000175:diagnosis*