Haemothorax as an Unusual Presentation of Osteochondroma: A case report and brief literature review.

Abstract

Exostosis, or osteochondroma, is an irregular bone growth commonly occurring near the femur, scapula, humerus and ribs. It can be a single isolated lesion or multiple lesions as in hereditary multiple exostoses (HME) which is a genetic autosomal dominant disorder. Although often asymptomatic, complications such as haemothorax are rare and have serious implications if not promptly recognised. We report a 15-year-old male patient who presented to a tertiary care hospital in Muscat, Oman, in 2023 who presented with progressive chest pain and dyspnoea. The patient had a family history of HME. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) confirmed the osteochondromatous lesions on the 8th rib, which was causing the haemothorax. The lesion was resected and post-surgery, the symptoms resolved. No recurrence was documented up to the time of writing this report.