title: Diagnosing bone lesions: a practical non-pathology centric formulaic approach.
abstract: Bone lesions are perceived to be some of the most difficult lesions that pathologists encounter. The reasons for this are multiple and include lack of experience/familiarity, the need to rely heavily on non-pathology information and data, and the fact that many lesions are associated with either procedures or treatments with significant morbidity. However, in fact, the majority of bone lesions can be accurately assessed on the basis of data not directly related to traditional pathologic based assessment. In order to achieve this state, the pathologist must understand the consistent clinical parameters of most bone lesions, including their clinical presentation, the bone involved, particularly the anatomic site of the bone involved, and a fundamental, basic understanding of imaging studies, especially the plain radiograph. Once these principles are understood and mastered, the pathologist can easily diagnose most bone lesions, using traditional pathologic assessment to confirm the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, One Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157. Electronic address: bdeyoung@wakehealth.edu.
authors.forename: Barry R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: DeYoung
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000465:Algorithms; D001847:Bone Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
keywords: Algorithimic approach to diagnosis of bone lesions; Bone lesions; Radiology fundamentals