The incidence of ischemic necrosis in skeletal muscle is low. The usual site of occurrence is the anterior tibial group of muscles, related to exertion particularly in military personnel, or to trauma. Lesions of this type occur elsewhere only rarely if at all.
A case is described of a thirty-four-year-old black man who appeared with a rapidly enlarging mass in the left buttock causing a sciatic-nerve palsy. The clinical impression of malignant neoplasm was not confirmed by the histology which revealed a non-neoplastic lesion with characteristics that were initially interpreted as a sclerosing lesion of muscle, but later, on consultation, it was considered to be an ischemic lesion resembling an infarct.
The possible relationship of this lesion to the patient's sickle-cell trait or to unnoticed trauma is discussed.
A two-year follow-up of the patient has shown complete recovery of function of the muscles in the sciatic-nerve distribution and complete healing in the area of the lesion.