The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 31, 182-187, Copyright © 1981 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
En bloc chest wall resection for candidal costochondritis in a drug addict
S Yap, MM Ravitch and KI Pataki
A case of Candida costochondritis seen initially as a chest wall tumor in a
narcotic addict is reported. Bone and cartilage are rare sites of Candida
infection from whatever cause. Since 1973, only 6 cases of Candida
costochondritis have been reported; 5 were complications of thoracic
operations and the other, of intravenous hyperalimentation. Treatment by a
one-stage en bloc resection of chest wall, and reconstruction by rib graft
and Marlex mesh resulted in cure in our patient, without complications.