Dancing sternal wires: A radiologic sign of sternal dehiscence

[摘要] A 52-year-old man underwent coronary ar- tery bypass grafting, which was complicated by cardiac tamponade requiring repeat sternotomy with mediastinal washout (Figure 1).On postoperative day 4, plain imaging revealeda midline sternal lucency and a slight leftwarddeviation of the second-from-the-lowest sternalwire (Figure 2), subtle signs suggesting sternaldehiscence. Those signs were missed initially,as no clinical signs of dehiscence were evident. The next day, routine radiography showedwidely separated sternal wires (Figure 3), indicating signifi cant progression of sternal dehiscence. The patient subsequently underwent openreduction and internal fi xation of the sternum.

[学科分类] 卫生学