A Brodie abscess is a subacute osteomyelitis

Osteomyelitis

Osteomyelitis simply means an infection of the bone or bone marrow...

, which may persist for years before converting to a frank osteomyelitis. Classically, this may present after conversion as a draining abscess

Abscess

An abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue in which the pus resides due to an infectious process or other foreign materials...

 extending from the tibia

Tibia

The tibia , shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates , and connects the knee with the ankle bones....

 out through the shin.

Most frequent causative organism is Staphylococcus aureus.

Clinical Presentation

Localized pain, often nocturnal, alleviated by aspirin. Often mimics the symptoms of Osteoid osteoma

Osteoid osteoma

An osteoid osteoma is a benign bone tumor which arises from osteoblasts and originally thought to be a smaller version of an osteoblastoma. Osteoid osteomas tend to be less than 1.5 cm in size. The tumor can be in any bone in the body but are most common in long bones, such as the femur and tibia....

, which is typically < 1cm diameter.

Most Frequent Sites

Usually occurs at the metaphysis of long bones.
Distal tibia,
proximal tibia,
distal femur,
proximal or distal fibula, and
distal radius.

Radiographic Features

Oval elliptical or serpiginous radiolucency usually >1cm surrounded by a heavily reactive sclerosis, granulation tissue, and a Nidus often less than 1cm. The margins often appear scalloped on radiograph. Brodie's abscess is best visualized using Computed tomography

Computed tomography

X-ray computed tomography or Computer tomography , is a medical imaging method employing tomography created by computer processing...

 (CT) scan.
Associated atrophy of soft tissue near the site of infection and shortening of the affected bone. Osteoblastoma

Osteoblastoma

Osteoblastoma is an uncommon osteoid tissue-forming primary neoplasm of the bone.It has clinical and histologic manifestations similar to those of osteoid osteoma; therefore, some consider the two tumors to be variants of the same disease, with osteoblastoma representing a giant osteoid osteoma...

 may be a classic sign for Brodie's Abscess.

History

Brodie abscess is named after Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, 1st Baronet
Whonamedit