Turret Exostosis

Turret exostosis was described in 1966 by H. Andrew Wissinger, Edward McClain and Joseph Boyes ¹ . They reported their findings in ten patients in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. ‘Following relatively trivial injuries to the dorsum of the proximal and middle phalanges of the fingers, a smooth, dome-shaped, extracortical collection of subperiosteal bone may develop beneath the extensor apparatus. Because of its shape and composition we have chosen to call this lesion turret exostosis’’ (Figure 1). These exostoses usually develop several weeks to months after a lacerating injury. Wissinger said that it reminded Joseph Boyes of the gun turret on top of a World War II B-17 bomber (personal communication) (Figure 2). Figure 1 ‘Roentgenogram made six months after injury. The turret exostosis is mature.’ Reprinted from Wissinger et <italic>al.<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref92_1"> ¹ </xref> </italic> Turret exostosis. <italic>J. Rone Joint Surg.,</italic> 1966, 48A, 105–110, with permission of the editor https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003076568/34c29fd5-5662-4e8f-b58c-badd7fa5d724/content/fig92_1_B.jpg"/> Figure 2 B-17 with top gun turret visible. Courtesy of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003076568/34c29fd5-5662-4e8f-b58c-badd7fa5d724/content/fig92_2_B.jpg"/>