Picking a bone with heterotopic ossification: translational progress current and future

Heterotopic ossification (HO) represents a serious clinical and basic science conundrum. It is a frequent complication of some of the most common orthopaedic procedures including joint replacement, fracture repair, and amputations. Furthermore it causes costly debilitation following trauma, burns, brain and spinal injuries, and is one of the defining injuries of modern military conflicts (1). However, despite the commonality and burden of HO, relatively little is known about its mechanism. This leads to a dearth of effective clinical prophylactic and therapeutic strategies.