Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Osteolysis
Breakdown of bone
HP:0002797
What it means
Osteolysis refers to the destruction of bone through bone resorption with removal or loss of calcium.
Osteolysis may be a feature of neoplastic, infectious, metabolis, vascular, and joint disorders and is also a component of many hereditary diseases. Osteolysis may be highly localized or more diffuse. This term is meant to group the more specific osteolysis terms.
Rare diseases that can present with this63
Very common80–99%
24- Autosomal recessive distal osteolysis syndrome
- Dermatoosteolysis, Kirghizian type
- Erdheim-Chester disease
- Felty syndrome
- Fibrous dysplasia of bone
- Frank-Ter Haar syndrome
- Gaucher disease type 1
- Gaucher disease type 3
- Gorham-Stout disease
- Hajdu-Cheney syndrome
- Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type 2
- Hypocalcemic vitamin D-resistant rickets
- Intellectual disability-cataracts-calcified pinnae-myopathy syndrome
- Langerhans cell histiocytosis
- Maffucci syndrome
- Mandibuloacral dysplasia with type A lipodystrophy
- Mandibuloacral dysplasia with type B lipodystrophy
- Multicentric carpo-tarsal osteolysis with or without nephropathy
- Multicentric osteolysis-nodulosis-arthropathy spectrum
- Ollier disease
- Osteosarcoma
- Ramon syndrome
- SAPHO syndrome
- Xanthoma disseminatum
Common30–79%
8- Chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis/Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis
- Diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis
- Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis
- Inclusion body myopathy with Paget disease of bone and frontotemporal dementia
- Kaposiform lymphangiomatosis
- Multiple myeloma
- Pachydermoperiostosis
- Tenosynovial giant cell tumor
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Increased bone resorption · Osteolytic defects of bones
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Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.