heterotopic mesenteric ossification

Intraabdominal heterotopic ossification is a very uncommon disorder. We report five new cases, review the previous literature, and discuss the clinical and pathologic features of these lesions.

All patients are middle-aged to elderly men (range, 43-80 years; mean, 61 years) who have small bowel obstruction associated with heterotopic bone formation in the small bowel mesentery, often after one or more abdominal operations.

In some cases, an initial diagnosis of extraosseous osteosarcoma is considered.

This unusual reactive process shares many of the clinical and pathologic features of myositis ossificans, as classically described in somatic soft tissues.

References

 Heterotopic mesenteric ossification (’intraabdominal myositis ossificans’): report of five cases. Wilson JD, Montague CJ, Salcuni P, Bordi C, Rosai J. Am J Surg Pathol. 1999 Dec;23(12):1464-70. PMID: 10584699