The 27-year-old man described in this case report presented with a progressively painful right forearm. Conventional radiographs and MRI led clinicians to suspect a rare desmoplastic fibroma of the proximal aspect of the radius, but it was not until a CT-guided core biopsy was analyzed histologically that the diagnosis could be confirmed. The histologic findings, depicted in a digital whole-slide image, revealed a fibrous to fibro-osseous lesion composed of fibroblast-like cells with varying degrees of hypercellularity.
The patient subsequently underwent a wide-margin resection that preserved the radial head but created an 8.5-cm defect, which surgeons reconstructed with a vascularized fibular autograft. At the 2-year follow-up, the patient’s QuickDASH score was 2.7 and his PROMIS Upper Extremity and Physical Function Short Form score was 42.
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