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Congenital rib fusion

Case contributed by Fabien Ho
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Chronic mechanical chest pain during deep inspiration.

Patient Data

Age: 40 years
Gender: Male

Note: This case has been tagged as "legacy" as it no longer meets image preparation and/or other case publication guidelines.

Non-enhanced chest CT

ct

Inner bowing of the 3rd and 4th right-sided ribs, linked together by a joint inferring congenital rib fusion with pseudo-articulation (isolated finding).

Case Discussion

This new joint may impinge the corresponding intercostal nerve; these have been reported in the literature as a cause of intercostal nerve impingement syndrome that has been treated surgically 1.

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