Van Neck–Odelberg Disease

A 12-year-old boy had a 3-month history of intermittent pain in the left inguinal region. Owing to the persistence of his symptoms, radiographs were obtained close to his place of residence to exclude any osseous pathology. These showed an extensive, partly demineralized geographic lesion with no periosteal reaction at the junction of the pubic bone and the ischium (arrow). The patient was therefore referred to our orthopedic oncology clinic for further investigation of a suspected primary bone tumor. However, the radiological findings corresponded instead to van Neck–Odelberg disease—a rare, benign aseptic bony necrosis of the ischiopubic synchondrosis that can occur unilaterally or bilaterally. We recommended conservative treatment with the aim of relieving the patient’s pain. Six months after his first visit to us, he was free of pain and fully able to participate in sports. This self-limiting disease should always be treated conservatively, and awareness of it is important in order to enable swift elimination of uncertainty regarding potential malignant differential diagnoses and avoid further invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.

Translated from the original German by Christine Rye.

Cite this as: Schneider KN, Gosheger G, Andreou D: Van Neck–Odelberg disease.

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