Introduction In a monumental report, Jaffe and Lichtenstein in 1948 [1] first de- scribed the histologic characteristics of chondromyxoid fibroma and sepa- rated it from low-grade chondrosar- coma and enchondroma. According to them and to reports by a number of individuals over the years, the tu- mor is a rare one, perhaps the rarest of all bone tumors [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. The lesion consists of im- mature-looking cartilage with myx- oid and fibrous components and usu- ally involves the lower extremity of males in the second and third decade [2, 7, 9, 10]. Although not uncom- monly located in the feet it is ex- tremely uncommon in the bones of the hand. Only a few isolated cases of chondromyxoid fibroma affecting the hand and metacarpal bones have been reported [1, 3, 11, 12]. Case report A 12-year-old girl presented with a 4-month history of intermittent vague pain and swelling in the re- gion of the second metacarpal of her left hand. She denied any history of trauma, either blunt or penetrating, or complaints suggestive of infec- tion. Physical examination showed a 719 slight increase in the width at the distal part of her second left meta- carpal compared with the adjacent fingers and the opposite side. The site was not inflamed and only mild tenderness on palpation was noted as well as slight pain with extreme flex- ion of her left index finger. No addi- tional findings were noted on physi- cal examination and specifically there was no evidence of bony defor- mities such as may be seen with Ol- lier’s disease or fibrous dysplasia. Laboratory tests were unremark- able. A radiograph of her left hand showed a fusiform expanded lesion of the distal metaphyseal area of the left second metacarpal with marked corti- Received: 30 April 2001 Accepted: 31 July 2001 Published online: 29 September 2001 © ISS 2001 Abstract This report describes a chondromyxoid fibroma which de- veloped in the distal part of the sec- ond metacarpal of a 12-year-old girl. The tumor is rare, perhaps the rarest of all bone tumors, and the occurrence in a metacarpal of a young female is extraordinarily un- common. Keywords Chondromyxoid fibroma · Metacarpal · Radiograph Skeletal Radiol (2001) 30:719–721 DOI 10.1007/s002560100428 CASE REPORT Mohammad Anwar Hau Edward J. Fox Andrew E. Rosenberg Henry J. Mankin Chondromyxoid fibroma of the metacarpal M.A. Hau · E.J. Fox · H.J. Mankin ( ✉ ) Orthopaedic Oncology Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA e-mail: hmankin@partners.org Tel.: +1-617-7243700 Fax: +1-617-7266823 A.E. Rosenberg Pathology Department, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA H.J. Mankin Orthopaedic Service, Gray 604, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA