Atypical hip pain origin in a young athletic woman: A case report of giant cell Carcinoma

Primary bone tumors are infrequently encountered in a sports medicine practice. We describe a case in which a young athletic woman with a medical history significant for ulcerative colitis initially presented to our clinic with chronic hip pain. Her initial roentograms were negative for boney pathology and her history and examination were consistent with trochanteric bursitis. However, follow-up radiographs performed 9 months later showed a radiolucent mass that eventually, after open biopsy and histologic evaluation, was determined to be giant cell tumor. This case shows the importance of repeat radiographic studies in patients whose joint pain does not respond or responds slowly to conservative therapy, despite initial normal findings. It also establishes that radiographic findings do not always correlate with actual disease process, for this lesion was found to be giant cell carcinoma - a diagnosis contrary to the original diagnosis of clear cell chondrosarcoma that was suggested by radiology.