Abstract
A 38-year-old male was admitted due to a low grade fever and pain at the site of a previous postero-lateral thoracotomy. When the patient was 27 years old he developed a bronchial schwannoma located in the intermediate trunk area. The lesion was resected ; bronchial plasty without a lung parenchyma resection was done. Four months prior to the current admission the patient developed, a low grade fever and pain in the operative scar. On chest X-ray and CT images, a chest wall mass was noted in the right chest wall along with osteolytic changes in the 7th rib. A malignant chest wall tumor was suspected. Based on the pathology of a CT-guided chest wall mass needle biopsy, a diagnosis of inflammatory granuloma was made. Specimens sent for culture grew Staphylococcus aureus. The diagnosis of a chest wall abscess, and a possible malignant tumor was made, for which surgery was done in February 2007. A chest wall abscess near the 6th costal bed was identified ; no tumor was found. Debridement and drainage were performed. The patient did well postoperatively, and was discharged home on the 32nd postoperative day.
