Chondrosarcoma of the Sternum - One Case Report -

흉골에 발생한 연골육종: 수술 치험 1례

Primary neoplasms of the ribs and sternum are rare. Most primary bony chest wall neoplasms are malignant, and chondrosarcoma is the most common malignancy in this location The etiology of chondrosarcoma is unknown. Definitive diagnosis of chondrosarcoma can only be made pathologically. The natural history of chest wall chondrosarcoma is one of slow growth and local recurrence. Most tumors of the sternum require wide resection and reconstruction procedures, with potentially serious postoperative problems. Advances in chest wall reconstruction primarily through refinement in muscle transposition and clarification of the functional anatomy and blood supply of trunk muscles, has resulted in a more aggressive resection of the these tumors . Recently we experienced a case with chondrosarcoma of the sternum. A 56 year-old man was admitted to our hospital due to painless, slowly enlarging mass at the left sternoclavicular junctional area. The chest radiograph strongly suggested an underlying cartilaginous neoplasm owing to the appearance of typical flocculent and curvilinear calcifications within the lesion. On CT of the chest, the tumor exhibited a scalloped or lobulated contour, hypodensity of the nonmineralized component in comparison to adjacent muscle, and characteristic stippled cartilaginous matrix mineralization, also typical for cartilaginous neoplasm. The patient underwent wide resection of the chest wall tumor include with a 2-3cm margin of normal tissue on all sides and the thoracic skeletal defect was reconstructed with polytetrafluoroethylene [Gore-Tex] soft-tissue patch. Soft tissue reconstructive procedure was done with the pectoralis major muscle transposition. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course and discharged without adjuvant treatment such as radiation and chemotherapy.