Gorham’s disease: treatment with an autologous iliac bone graft and a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty

Background

Gorham’s disease (GSD) is a rare osteolytic disease with unclear etiology, and no known prevention or effective treatment. Here we report a new surgical treatment for a case of GSD in September 2017.

Case presentation

We report GSD in a 52-year-old woman. She had disappearance of her humeral head and a defect of the glenoid bone in her left shoulder joint, which were serious obstacles to joint function. We used an autologous iliac bone graft to repair the glenoid bone defect and a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. After surgery, humeral osteolysis did not continue, and her shoulder function recovered well.

Conclusions

This case suggests that autologous bone grafting can still be used to treat GSD despite it being an osteolytic disease. The successful treatment suggests that this method could be used for GSD in other bones.