Surgical Outcomes in Adult Patients With Craniofacial Fibrous Dysplasia.
12% of adults needed reoperation after initial bone contouring for continued growth
Surgical Outcomes in Adult Patients With Craniofacial Fibrous Dysplasia.
Fibrous dysplasia (fibrous dysplasia) is a benign bone neoplasm often considered a disease of childhood, with existing literature suggesting lesions typically become quiescent by young adulthood.
This retrospective review analyzed 50 adult patients treated surgically for craniofacial fibrous dysplasia at a single institution between 1988 and 2024 to evaluate patterns of presentation, operative indications, and long-term outcomes.
Polyostotic involvement was present in 60.0% of patients, and the frontal bone was most affected (51.2%).
The median age at presentation was 31 years, and the median age at initial surgery was 34.5 years.
The most common surgical indications were visible growth (30.5%) and pain or headache (27.1%).
Of the 59 surgeries performed to directly treat fibrous dysplasia, bone contouring only was the most common initial operative approach (n=42), followed by en bloc resection and reconstruction (n=7).
These findings suggest that craniofacial fibrous dysplasia may remain symptomatic or continue to progress into adulthood, challenging the traditional paradigm that these lesions necessarily become quiescent after skeletal maturity and highlighting the importance of long-term surveillance in the adult population.