Dr. Pepe’s Diploma Casebook 154 – All you need to know to interpret a chest radiograph – Eighth Session – SOLVED

Dear Friends,

Showing today the leading case of webinar eight. Radiographs belong to 27-year-old with seminoma and pain in the anterior chest wall. What is your opinion about the  clavicular lesion?

1. Metastasis
2. Osteomyelitis
3. Benign bone lesion
4. Any of the above

Check out the last webinar form the series explaining in detail this case on our youtube channel and and catch up on previous ones on the EBR YouTube channel!

Click here to see the answer

Findings: the chest radiograph shows a lytic lesion in the proximal right clavicle (A-B, circles). It has a sclerotic border (A-B, red arrows), indicating a slow-growing process. This finding excludes options 1 and 2 and leaves option 3. Benign bone lesion as the correct diagnosis.

This lytic lesion correspond to a normal variant, called the rhomboid fossa. It represents the insertion site of the costoclavicular ligament( yellow), which extends from first rib (red) to the proximal clavicle (blue).
Is a normal variant and should not to be mistaken for an osteolytic lesion.

It occurs in 30% of males and 5% of females. It is more common in the young and becomes less visible with age.

Final diagnosis: rhomboid fossa of right clavicle

Congratulations to Faelivrin, who made the correct diagnosis

Teaching point: it is important to know the most common normal variants of the chest, to avoid confusing them with pathology.

6 thoughts on “Dr. Pepe’s Diploma Casebook 154 – All you need to know to interpret a chest radiograph – Eighth Session – SOLVED

  1. Prominent Fossa rhomboidea, however the margins are somewhat more sclerotic than usual. Maybe in the OP for the port surgical resection a part of the clavicle because of TOS?
    The contact point between the port and the catheter looks strange: cinical signs of disconnection?

  2. Bone lytic lesion, ecxentric, wide transition zone. Agresive apperance, Metastasis may be the apropiate answer.

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