Hemothorax in a Child as a Result of Costal Exostosis

Abstract

Chest pain in pediatric patients is uncommon. Chest pain due to hemothorax is rare. Although hemothorax is usually a result of trauma, it has been reported as a complication of costal exostoses.1-6 The youngest such patient reported, to our knowledge, was 7 years old. We report a case of hemothorax in a 3½-year-old boy with hereditary multiple exostoses. CASE HISTORY A 3½-year-old boy was referred for evaluation of an asymptomatic, right-sided pleural effusion. The child, who was adopted from Romania at 1 year of age, was a known chronic hepatitis B carrier. He had been malnourished when he was first adopted, but he was currently thriving, with height and weight at the 50th percentile for age.