Imaging of Bone Surface Lesions

Bone surface lesions are those that originate at or adjacent to the cortex. They include a variety of benign and malignant tumors, as well as nonneoplastic entities such as infectious, posttraumatic, and developmental lesions. Many of these lesions arise from certain layers from within or about the cortex and have features dictated by the layer from which they arise. Knowledge of the different cell types and cortical bone surface anatomy equips radiologists with the ability to provide a useful differential diagnosis for these lesions. The authors review the important anatomic and imaging features that radiologists can use to evaluate bone surface lesions.