- 期刊
A Rare Case of Cold Abscess in the Anterior Chest Wall
罕見的前胸壁冷膿瘍
摘要
Primary tuberculous abscesses (also called “cold abscesses”) of the chest wall are rare and constitute less than 10% of skeletal extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases. Tuberculosis of the chest wall usually presents as an enlarged and occasionally painful mass in the chest wall. Cases of tuberculous abscess of the anterior chest wall are rarely reported in the literature. We reported a rare case of tuberculous abscess of the anterior chest wall in a 64-yearold man who presented with painful swelling in the left chest region. Physical, imaging, and histological examinations led to a diagnosis of tuberculous chest wall lesion. Complete excision of the cold abscess and partial resection of the left 6th rib were performed. During surgery, 150 mL of purulent fluid was found in the cyst. The patient was stable postoperatively and received anti-tuberculosis medication. Cold abscess of the anterior chest wall is difficult to diagnose preoperatively and may be confused with secondary bone metastasis, pyogenic abscess, chondroma, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, or infectious diseases such as actinomycosis. Complete excision of the abscess of the chest wall and of the invaded structures is our preferred approach to achieve en bloc resection. When a chest wall tumor with a cystic lesion and homogenous fluid content is encountered, cold abscess should be suspected.