Surgical management of thoracic multiple exostoses

Abstract Hereditary multiple exostoses (HME) is a rare autosomal dominant condition resulting in the development of multiple osteochondromas. We present a case of a 25 year old with HME who was referred for thoracic surgery assessment due to severe right sided chest pain. Computer tomography (CT) scan allowed pre-operative planning of the lesion. Under general anaesthesia, right video assisted thorascopic surgery (VATS) was performed through a cosmetic retro-mammary incision. Complete removal of the tumour resolved symptoms and she was subsequently discharged two days later. We show that VATS surgery with cosmetically placed muscle sparing incision allowed accurate resection with faster recovery.