Case of the Week - Osteosacroma of the femur

This week I amputated the leg of a 16 year old boy named Timothy.  He had a tumor growing at his distal femur for the past several years.  The tumor was quite an impressive size.  Unfortunately here amputation is the only option for cases of malignancy of the bones.  They also usually present very late in their course, sometimes already metastatic.  There is no chemotherapy that can be offered after surgery either.  I am told that most of these kids will eventually succumb to their disease.

The tumor was growing on the bone right above his knee.  His foot is off the picture on the left and the markings on the right on the leg is where I performed the amputation.