Normal variations in radiographs of the clavicle: brief report.

The clavicle, being subcutaneous, is easily examined and presents a tempting target for biopsy. This may be of both diagnostic and therapeutic value, but on occasion normal anatomical variations may lead to unnecessary operations. Two such cases are presented. Case I. A fit 28-year-old man was seen two days after a fall, complaining of pain and tenderness in the region of the sternoclavicularjoint. A plain radiograph showed an apparently loculated lytic lesion at the medial end of the clavicle; this was confirmed by tomography (Fig. 1). Pain persisted and six weeks later an open biopsy revealed normal bone. A window through rather thin cortex revealed cancellous bone which was histologically normal.