Acute bone infection resembling neoplasia. Two unusual cases

Acute osteomyelitis may cause diagnostic confusion especially if its location and/or presentation are particularly unusual. Preceding trauma is common and may confuse. Blood investigations are frequently inconclusive. Imaging modalities may demonstrate the extent of pathology and help to define the nature of the pathological process in some cases, however, they can also be misleading. We present two cases of acute osteomyelitis in two young children, affecting the pubic bone and the distal femur respectively. They were both misdiagnosed as sarcomas and only biopsy was able to establish the diagnosis. Pubic osteomyelitis is particularly rare and acute osteomyelitis of the distal femur resembling soft tissue sarcoma has not been previously reported in the English literature.