Because it is so rare, and commonly misdiagnosed,  exactly how many people are affected by this disease is not known. The literature frequently cites that fewer than 200 cases have been reported, though a consensus is building that many more cases occur around the world than have been reported. History
The first known report of the condition came in 1838 in an article titled "A Boneless Arm" in what was then The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal (now The New England Journal of Medicine). It is a brief report chronicling the case of Mr. Brown who had, in 1819 at age 18 years, broken his right upper arm in an accident. The person had two subsequent accidents, which fractured the arm twice more "before the curative process had been completed." At the time of the report in 1838, the person was reported as having remarkable use of the arm, in spite of the humerus bone having apparently disappeared – X-rays did not yet exist. Thirty-four years later,  a follow-up report was published in the same journal, following Mr. Browns death from pneumonia at the age of 70 years. The person had requested the arm "be dissected and preserved for the benefit of medical science" and this report contains a detailed pathological description of the arm and shoulder. Abnormalities of the remaining bones of the arm and shoulder are noted and the authors report that the arteries, veins, and nerves appeared normal. No mention was made of lymphatic vessels.
The paper was published in its entirety in October 1955 in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, concluding that:

There now exists the basis for a new syndrome which is supported by a remarkable similarity of clinical and [x-ray] findings in twenty-four cases, and by an equally convincing similarity of the histological picture in eight of these, which we have personally studied. However it is accomplished, the progressive osteolysis is always associated with an angiomatosis of blood and sometimes of lymphatic vessels, which seemingly are responsible for it.The most typical presentation is that of osteolysis of a single bone or the bones connected by a shared joint, such as the shoulder. Although the disease can attack any bone, the shoulder is one of the most commonly involved areas, along with the skull and pelvic girdle. Spontaneous fractures are common and may be the first sign of the disease. A hallmark of the disease is the lack of bone healing following fracture. References
Further reading
Dellinger, M. T., Garg, N, Olsen, B.R., 2014. Viewpoints on vessels and vanishing bones in Gorham-Stout disease. Bone. 63C, 47–52. Lala S, Mulliken JB, Alomari AI, Fishman SJ, Kozakewich HP, Chaudry G. Gorham-Stout disease and generalized lymphatic anomaly—clinical, radiologic, and histologic differentiation. Skeletal Radiol. 2013 Jul;42(7):917-24. doi: 10.1007/s00256-012-1565-4. Epub 2013 Jan 31. Trenor, C, Chaudry G. Complex lymphatic anomalies, Semin Pediatr Surg. 2014 Aug;23(4):186-90. doi:10.1053/j.sempedsurg.2014.07.006. Epub 2014 Jul 22. == External links ==