Giant cell tumour of the extensor tendon sheath of the ankle: A rare case report with review of literature

Abstract

Giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath is also termed as tenosynovial giant cell tumour. It is relatively a rare tumour comprising only about 1.6% of all the soft tissue tumours. Giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath of the foot and ankle is much less reported as compared to giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath of the hand and knee. However giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath should be considered as a differential diagnosis of soft tissue tumours of the foot and ankle.We here present a rare case of giant cell tumour of the extensor tendons heath of the ankle in a young female which presented with chief complaint of a painless swelling of size about 3.5×3.5cm over her right ankle from one year. The diagnosis was made initially by using ultrasonography which was supported by MRI and confirmed after the histopathological examination of the excisional biopsy. The giant cell tumour was found arising from the tendon sheath of extensor tendons - tibialis anterior and extensor hallucis longus. In our case the patient showed complete resolution of the symptom with no sign of recurrence at final follow-up after 1 year.