Bilateral antecubital ossicles (fabellae cubiti) and other rare accessory bones of the elbow.

Accessory ossicles are rare in the elbow. The one best substantiated is the patella cubiti at the dorsal aspect of the joint (1–5). Even here, some of the published reports do not conclusively eliminate the possibility of mistaking a traumatic fragment for a sesamoid ossicle of the triceps tendon. Other sources of diagnostic error are: an articulated olecranon spur (i.e., a calcification in the triceps tendon at its attachment to the posterior aspect of the olecranon), calcareous bursitis dorsal to the triceps tendon, and loose bodies secondary to osteochondritis dissecans. Finally the epiphysis of the olecranon process may fail to unite with the body of the ulna in an occasional case (6). This epiphysis develops usually from two or three ossification centers, first appearing on radiographs at ten to thirteen years of age. When arrested, it may give the appearance of one or more separate ossicles in the dorsum of the elbow. Usually this can be recognized by the fact that the line of separation leads into ...