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A 76-year-old lady was referred to the respiratory clinic with a 6-month history of a discharging left chest wall sinus. She also had a 6-month history of dry cough, left chest wall pain and breathlessness. There was no history of fever, haemoptysis, weight loss or night sweats. She was a lifelong non-smoker and there was no history of asbestos exposure.
Investigations showed elevated white blood cell count of 14.5×109/l (neutrophil count 11×109/l) and C reactive protein 87 mg/L; renal and liver function tests were normal. Sputum cultures were negative.
She had a laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication 12 years earlier, complicated by perforation of the oesophagus. Subsequently, 6 years later, she developed dyspnoea; a chest x-ray at this time revealed a left-sided pleural-based abnormality. A thoracoscopic biopsy suggested benign pleural thickening/fibrosis. After thoracoscopy, she developed a discharging sinus around the access port site, which was excised.
The patient then relocated to the region and presented with a persistent discharge from the original chest wall sinus. Oral penicillin was …
Footnotes
AK and MD contributed equally to this work.
Correction notice This article has been corrected since it was published Online First. The order of authors and their affiliations were changed.
Competing interests None.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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