[Bifid rib: the importance of good radiological procedure].

BACKGROUND

Bifid rib is a congenital abnormality occurring in about 0.6% of the healthy population.

CASE DESCRIPTION: A 5-year-old boy attended the Orthopaedics outpatient clinic with a swelling on the right of his sternum that was increasing in size. A chest x-ray did not reveal any abnormalities. However, on the CT scan that was then performed we saw a bifurcation of the fourth rib, for which we adopted a watchful waiting treatment strategy. With hindsight, the bifurcation was also visible on the x-ray image but we had not initially recognised it as such.

CONCLUSION

Bifurcation of a rib is not always recognised as such. Unnecessary supplementary diagnostics can be avoided with the use of a correctly implemented radiological procedure.