Describe the three basic patterns of bone destruction.

Describe the three basic patterns of bone destruction.

Geographic pattern: The lesion is circumscribed. A sclerotic rim indicates relatively slow growth. Ill-defined borders or a wide transition zone indicates a moderately aggressive tumor.


Moth-eaten pattern: The lesion is poorly circumscribed, with numerous defects of varying size in the cortical and trabecular bone. This pattern indicates aggressive behavior.


Permeative pattern: This pattern is characterized by abundant elongated perforations along the bone cortex and occasional decreases in cortical bone density. It indicates aggressive behavior.