Sternal tail: A new entity; A case report

Supernumerary ribs are very rare. They may occur at any level of the spine. We present here a case of an unusual localization of an extra rib that has not been previously described in the literature.

A 4-year-old girl, with no medical history, presented with a congenital deformity in the sternal region mimicking a tail. The tail-like structure had a bony axis and was covered by normal skin and hairs. A computed tomography of the chest demonstrated that this structure was an abnormal bone articulated with the the sternum. For cosmetic purposes, we have decided to resect the malformation. On histopathological examination, it was a supernumerary rib.

A review of the literature reveals a global incidence of cervical ribs ranging from 0.04 % up to 4.5 %, intrathoracic ribs in about 50 cases to date and very few reports on supernumerary ribs in the lumbar and sacral region. We were unable to find any similar cases of supernumerary ribs in the sternum.

Supernumerary ribs are rare and benign congenital anomalies. This case report describes an unusual localization of an extra rib in the sternum mimicking a tail.