Introduction:

The unicameral bone cyst is a benign pseudotumoral lesion with liquid content, accounting for 3% of all primary tumors. The calcaneus is a rare location and the tarsus is the most affected bone.

Objective:

to report a case of unicameral bone cyst in a right calcaneus, which was diagnosed and treated at “Manuel Ascunce Domenech” Universitary Hospital in Camagüey with favorable evolution.

Case report:

This is the case of a 22-year-old male patient with health history of pain in his right calcaneus for two months. The pain increased and made it possible to walk. Physical examination revealed pain on palpation of the lateral aspect of the right heel, and no other data of interest was collected. A wide, hypointense osteolytic lesion was revealed by computerized axial tomography showing an anterosuperior fracture, cortical thinning, and septation of the cyst chamber. Surgery was decided for excising and biopsy sampling that revealed vascularized fibrous tissue with osteoclasts, multinucleated giant cells, cholesterol crystals and hemosiderin, consistent with a unicameral bone cyst.

Conclusions:

The unicameral bone cyst is a benign but potentially disabling pseudotumoral lesion. The diagnosis may be fortuitous or due to some pathological fracture. Removal with wide curettage and bone grafting, or its derivatives, is the most widely used technique. This patient evolved positively and he was classified as cured.

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