TUMOR PRESENTING AS A RETROSTERNAL ABSCESS FOLLOWING MEDIAN STERNOTOMY

A 73-year-old lady, who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting eigh t months previously, presented with rigors and chest pain. The upper s ternum was tender, swollen and erythematous, suggesting a retrosternal abscess. Radiological investigation supported the clinical diagnosis. Local infections following median sternotomy are uncommon, most being early and superficial. Late infections are very uncommon, and should suggest alternative pathology. Following open surgical drainage, histo logy showed the mass to be a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. The primary tumour was never found.