Isolated Sternal Tuberculosis Presenting as a Chest Wall Abscess: A Case Report

In india, pulmonary tuberculosis accounts for 85% of cases and extrapulmonary tuberculosis accounts for 15% of cases with bone and joint involvement is seen in 1 to 3% of cases. primary tuberculous osteomyelitis of the sternum is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. a 51-year-old male presented with 10 years history of swelling over the anterior chest wall and pain for past 6 months. fine-needle aspiration cytology (fnac) revealed a markedly granular necrotic background. ziehl-neelsen staining was positive for acid-fast bacilli and a diagnosis of the tubercular abscess was made. chest x-ray was normal. contrast-enhanced computed tomography was done, which gave an evidence of the erosion of the anterior surface of the sternum. tuberculosis of the sternum is a rare form of flat bone tuberculosis. the possibility of sternal tuberculosis should be kept in mind in any patient with a mass, non-healing ulcer, or abscess in the sternal region.