Parosteal fasciitis in children.

Parosteal fasciitis is a pseudosarcomatous benign lesion of fibrous tissue that has often been confused with malignancy. The purpose of this study was to document the clinical and pathological features of four children with this condition and compare the results with the world literature. The ages of the patients whose cases were reviewed ranged from 9 to 15 years. There were three girls and one boy. All the lesions occurred in the lower extremities, and histologically were characterized by a fibroblastic proliferation with inflammatory cells, diffuse capillary network, and varying quantities of metaplastic bone. All patients were treated by local excision of the lesion. One child had a recurrence of the lesion requiring another surgical removal. A set of clinicopathological criteria has been formulated for the diagnosis of parosteal fasciitis in children. Parosteal fasciitis is uncommon in children but manifests the same clinicopathological features as the adult lesion.