Diego Michelon De Carli, Mateus Dornelles Severo, Carlos Jesus Pereira Haygert, Marcelo Guollo,
Alex Omairi, Vinícius Dallagasperina Pedro, Eduardo Pedrolo Silva, Arnaldo Teixeira Rodrigues
J Bras Pneumol.2009;35(7):709-712
We report the case of a 74-year-old male patient with a one-year history of chest pain in the suprasternal notch associated with erythema, edema and drainage of purulent material from a fistulous lesion. The patient was HIV-negative with no history of TB. A CT scan of the chest showed an osteolytic lesion in the sternum, and a biopsy revealed caseous granuloma, which, in the microbiological evaluation, was negative for fungi and acid-fast bacilli. The diagnosis of sternal osteomyelitis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis was confirmed using PCR.
Keywords: Thorax; Mycobacterium infections; Tuberculosis, osteoarticular; Sternum; Diagnosis.