ISSN : 1301-5680
e-ISSN : 2149-8156
Turkish Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery     
A fine line between a major surgery and medical therapy: the diagnosis of sternal tuberculosis
Ayşegül Yeşilkaya1, Özlem Kurt Azap1, Dalokay Kılıç2, Hande Arslan1, Halit Üner3
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Medical Faculty of Başkent University, Ankara, Turkey
1Departments of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Medical Faculty of Başkent University, Ankara, Turkey
2Departments of Thoracic Surgery Medical Faculty of Başkent University, Ankara, Turkey
3Departments of Pathology, Medical Faculty of Başkent University, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.5606/tgkdc.dergisi.2014.6905
Tuberculosis involving the sternum is rare. The most common symptoms at the early stage are chest pain and palpable masses on the sternum. Cutaneous fistulas, spontaneous fracture of sternum and extrasternal spread may develop in cases with late diagnosis. In this article, we report a 53-yearold male case admitted with a one-month history of chest pain and two palpable masses on his lower sternal part of chest in whom the diagnosis of sternal tuberculosis was confirmed by histopathologically and microbiologically. The masses were reduced in size with two-month anti-tubercular therapy. The nine-month duration of the therapy produced satisfactory results without any adverse reactions.
Keywords : Osteomyelitis; sternum; tuberculosis
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