Osteosarcoma Arising from Heterotopic Ossification After an Electrical Burn

cutaneous fat, or organs such as the kidney or breast22. It is histologically similar to myositis ossificans, which refers more specifically to the formation of bone in muscle tissue. Because of the histological and clinical similarities between heterotopic ossification and osteo-sarcoma, the conditions can be easily misdiagnosed. Heterotopic ossification usually develops after a sin-gle traumatic injury or a series of minor injuries and is considered to be a benign, self-limiting condition. Ther-mal injury is one of the least common causes of ex-traskeletal bone formation. The reported prevalence of heterotopic ossification following thermal injury has ranged from less than 1 to 23 percent6,13,20,25. Boyd et al. retrospectively reviewed the cases of approximately 1000 patients who had been seen during a twenty-five