Extrusion of Teflon aortic pledgets from a sternal wound six years after cardiac surgery

We present a case of a cardiac surgery patient with a persistent low-grade discharge from his sternal wound for over six years. It finally healed when some suture material and Teflon felt pledgets were extruded. These had been used intraoperatively to close the aortic cannulation site. The extrusion of prosthetic material from this site after this length of time has never been described.