Parosteal (nodular) fasciitis of the hand. A case report

In 1962, Hutter and associates described the entity of parosteal fasciitis as a benign proliferation of a spindle cell stroma with large deposits of reactive bone and occasionally cartilage. This entity differs from myositis ossificans in that it is a proliferative response to an unknown stimulus rather than a metaplastic response to trauma. The clinical importance of parosteal fasciitis is that it must be distinguished from a malignant neoplasm. Radical surgery, therefore, must be avoided. Four cases of benign parosteal fasciitis in the hand have been reported in the literature and are summarized. The authors report a fifth case.