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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffYou develop fibrous dysplasia before birth, and its development has been linked with a gene mutation that affects the cells that produce bone. No one knows what causes the mutation, but it isn't inherited from your parents, and you can't pass it on to your children.
Bones are living tissue, so even after you stop growing, your bones are in a continuous process of renewal known as remodeling. In the process, certain bone cells (osteoclasts) tear down (resorb) bone, while other cells (osteoblasts) rebuild bone. Fibrous dysplasia disrupts the process, causing old bone to break down faster and replacing normal bone tissue with softer, fibrous tissue.
- Fibrous dysplasia. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00083. Accessed May 11, 2009.
- DiCaprio MR, et al. Fibrous dysplasia. Pathophysiology, evaluation, and treatment. The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. 2005;87:1848.
- Leet AI, et al. Current approach to fibrous dysplasia of bone and McCune-Albright syndrome. Journal of Children's Orthopaedics. 2007;1:3.
- Polyostotic fibrous dysplasia. Craniofacial & Skeletal Diseases Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. http://csdb.nidr.nih.gov/frame_clinical_bkg.htm. Accessed May 11, 2009.
- Glorieux FH, et al. Medical therapy of children with fibrous dysplasia. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. 2006;21(suppl):P110.
- Chapurlat RD, et al. Fibrous dysplasia of bone and McCune-Albright syndrome. Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology. 2008;22:55.
