Lessons to be learned: a case study approach: Metastatic bronchogenic carcinoma presenting as a gluteal abscess

It is well known that bronchogenic carcinoma frequently metastasises to the bony skeleton, but it is most unusual for it to present in the form of a m usculoskeletal abscess. Presented here is the case report of a patient with what appeared initially to be a right sided gluteal abscess and which turn ed our to be the metastasis from a bronchogenic carcinoma. The Magnetic Res onance image (MRI) scan carried out proved to be very helpful in arriving a t a probable clinical diagnosis; however, it was histopathological studies of the abscess wall itself that ultimately gave the definitive diagnosis. W e believe that this may represent one of the first documented cases in whic h an MRI scan has been used to confirm the presence of a gluteal abscess.