We report a case of thoracic wall myositis ossificans (MO) located anterior to the ninth rib, causing right lower thoracic-upper abdominal pain. The diagnosis was based on the findings of ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT). Numerous disorders can be included in the differential diagnosis of right lower thoracic-upper abdominal pain, so we must first establish if the pain is somatic or visceral in origin. Somatic pain in this region can be caused by traumatic muscle pain, overuse myalgia, costochondritis, or thoracic wall malignancies. Although rare, MO should also be considered in the differential diagnosis of pain and thoracic wall masses in this region. As the calcifications may not be seen on a plain chest X-ray in the early course of this condition, superficial tissue US or CT should be performed to establish the diagnosis.
We present a case of a posterior epidural abscess at the thoracic vertebral level causing paraparesia in a young, healthy individual with no otherwise predisposing factors, with normal laboratory findings, as diagnosed using fat-suppressed MR imaging. Spinal epidural abscess is a rare condition, encountered mostly in the midthoracic or lower lumbar vertebral levels of elderly patients, that has a high mortality and morbidity (18-31%) when diagnosis and treatment is delayed. It is rarely spontaneous and is usually accompanied by spinal osteomyelitis. Diagnosis is rather easy in cases of vertebral osteomyelitis or when classical clinical, laboratory and imaging findings are present. However, cases of spontaneous development, with no predisposing factors, and lack of abscess suggesting clinical and laboratory findings may be a diagnostic challenge. In such cases, other posterior epidural masses such as schwannoma, neurofibroma, meningioma and hematoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Both the clinician and the radiology physician should have a high suspicion of epidural abscesses, because their early diagnosis and treatment is important. In addition to routine MR images, fat-suppressed MR images prove helpful in the diagnosis of spontaneous epidural abscesses by showing the inflammatory changes in the paraspinal area.
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