osteolytic
Meaning of osteolytic: An osteolytic process breaks down bone tissue faster than the body can rebuild it, often appearing as a darkened area on imaging.
Definition of osteolytic
Osteolytic describes a process that causes the breakdown or destruction of bone tissue. On imaging studies such as x-ray or CT, an osteolytic lesion typically appears as an area where normal bone density is reduced or lost, reflecting bone that has been broken down faster than it is being replaced.
Osteolytic changes can result from a tumor that originates in the bone, cancer that has spread to bone from elsewhere in the body, infection, or certain metabolic bone conditions. Osteolytic activity is distinguished from osteoblastic, or bone-forming, activity, and some conditions produce a mixture of both patterns within the same bone or across different bones.
Because weakened bone from osteolytic changes is more prone to fracture, identifying and monitoring these changes, along with their underlying cause, is an important part of evaluating certain bone and cancer-related conditions.
Used in a sentence
Imaging revealed an osteolytic lesion in the vertebral body consistent with metastatic disease.
Good to know
Osteolytic lesions weaken the structural integrity of bone, which is why they carry a higher risk of fracture compared with bone affected by a purely bone-forming process.
Word origin
Where “osteolytic” comes from
Formed from osteo-, from Greek osteon, meaning "bone," and -lytic, from Greek lytikos, meaning "able to dissolve or loosen."