Symptoms of Fibrous Dysplasia of the Bone
Fibrous dysplasia of the bone may cause symptoms like bone pain, fracture, bone deformity and difficulty in walking.
Fibrous dysplasia of the bone may cause few or no symptoms, particularly if the condition is mild. Symptoms of monostotic dysplasia develop during the teens or early 20s while symptoms of the polyostotic form are more likely to develop by 10 years.
Severe cases of fibrous dysplasia can cause the following symptoms-
- Bone pain- Fibrous dysplasia causes thickening of the long bones and the patient usually complains of persistent bone pain.
- Fracture- The affected bone may undergo spontaneous fracture.
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- Bone deformity- The weight-bearing bones become bowed due to weakening of the structural integrity of the bone. When the jaw bone is involved, there is painless bulging in the affected jaw. As the lesion constantly expands, there may be disturbance in the teeth as well. Teeth do not erupt on time. If the bones of the face and the skull are involved, there is an obvious deformity of the face.
- Difficulty in walking- Leg-length discrepancy is present to varying degrees in 70% of patients with limb involvement. This leads to difficulty in walking.
- Hormonal disturbances- Rarely, hormonal disturbances can be seen. The thyroid, parathyroid and the pituitary as well as the ovary may be involved. Precocious puberty can be seen in children.
- Skin discoloration- Sometimes, brown lesions called the "cafe-au-lait" spots are present on the skin.
