Differential diagnosis of structural changes in the pubic bone in children and adolescents

Structural changes in the pubic bone often are difficult to interpret. The radiologic appearance is very different. The differentiation between inflammatory and malignant processes is hardly to distinguish. We report of ten patients with osseous changes in the os pubic (4 Ewing's sarcoma, 1 osteosarcoma, 1 Morbus Hodgkin, 1 osteochondronecrosis, 2 osteochondritis, 1 subchronic osteomyelitis). Two patients with Ewing's sarcoma who were initially treated for osteomyelitis are described in detail. Differential diagnosis and previous literature are reviewed. (orig.)