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10.5606/tgkdc.dergisi.2014.6905
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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