Failure of femoral internal fixation device secondary to phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND

Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome caused by mesenchymal tumors that secrete fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23). Phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor (PMT) is a novel histopathologic entity that has been identified as a separate cause of TIO. Clinically, PMT is typically diagnosed late due to its rarity.

CASE PRESENTATION

The paper reports on a patient with a sustained left-sided sub-trochanteric femur fracture in 2018 who subsequently underwent fracture reduction and internal fixation placement. Six years postoperatively, the patient developed a recurrent femoral stem fracture accompanied by internal fixation device failure on the left side of the femur with no apparent causative factors. Based on the patient's history of multiple fractures, a series of tests were performed and he was diagnosed with a rare disease recognized as TIO. A PET-CT scan conducted prior to surgery revealed that the lesion was located in the right suprapatellar bursa, so the mass was palpated on the body surface and surgically excised.

CONCLUSIONS

It is the first reported case of TIO in a patient with internal fixation device failure. Following a thorough review of the patient's medical history, examination findings, and associated literature, the study concluded that the patient's long-term osteomalacia and hypophosphatemia would significantly compromise the stability of the internal fixation. Specifically, we determined that the primary tumor lesion in this case was the primary cause of internal fixation failure. Therefore, patients found to have difficult-to-correct hypophosphatemia with multiple fractures in clinical practice should be further investigated for the primary etiology, such as TIO as mentioned in this case, before fracture surgery is performed. Enhancing 68 Ga-DOTA-TATE Positron Emission Tomography/ Computed Tomography (PET/CT) is also recommended to provide a more precise diagnosis of the tumor. For definite tumor lesions, total excisional surgery is considered to be a viable treatment for TIO.