[Aspergillus osteomyelitis of the sternum after thoracoplasty]

The case of a 69-year-old man with osteomyelitis of the sternum caused by Aspergillus is reported. The patient had undergone a thoracoplasty eighteen months before for left empyema. At operation, the lower fourth of the sternum with some bilateral costal cartilages was resected, and the resultant dead space was covered with a rectus abdominis muscle flap. The diagnosis as Aspergillus osteomyelitis of the sternum was confirmed by culture of resected material. The cause of sternal osteomyelitis was assumed to be direct spread from an infection of costal cartilages left at thoracoplasty. He was discharged on the 31st postoperative day after complete wound healing.