A Rare Case of a Symptomatic Sternalis Muscle: Ultrasonograpy And MRI Correlation

Sternalis Syndrome Misidentified by Multiple Specialties Responding to Botox Treatment: A Case Report and Literature Review

When a clinician, especially one who is specialized in primary care is faced with presenting complaints of deep, sharp, anterior chest pain, the most common differential diagnoses include cardiac and gastrointestinal pain. Musculoskeletal pain is thought of less frequently as a possible root cause. In this case report, we describe the clinical journey of a female athlete who presented with complaints of burning anterior chest pain. Her sternalis syndrome pain was first misdiagnosed as pain of cardiac origin, resulting in pacemaker placement into the patient's chest. The pain continued, and the same musculoskeletal pain was then presumed to be of gastrointestinal origin due to a previous history of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). As a result of this misidentification, the patient underwent an unnecessary esophageal surgical procedure. Here, we identify the origins of sternalis syndrome pain, what other conditions the pain may be confused with, and how clinicians should not be quick to exclude musculoskeletal pain from a differential diagnosis of acute chest pain. We discuss effective treatments for sternalis syndrome and shed light on this less common cause of anterior chest pain to promote more accurate diagnosis and avoidance of unnecessary surgical interventions.

Sternalis muscle in jordanian population: a prevalence study and level of physicians' awareness

Sternalis muscle (SM) is an anatomical variant that lies parallel to the sternum. It is present in (8%) of human population. Awareness about its presence during thoracic imaging is important, since it might be misdiagnosed as a tumor. This study is the first that discusses the prevalence of SM in the Jordanian population and document the level of awareness about SM among intern doctors and surgery and radiology residents. Our aims are to know the prevalence of SM in the Jordanian population, using thoracic multi-detector computerized tomography (CT) images, and to assess the awareness about SM among a sample of intern and resident Jordanian physicians. Random anonymous axial thoracic multi-detector CT images of 1,709 (801 females and 908 males) Jordanian patients, were examined for the presence or absence of unilateral and/or bilateral SM. A questionnaire aiming to identify SM was distributed among 175 intern doctors, 26 surgery resident and 28 radiology resident doctors, their answers were summarized. The prevalence of SM among Jordanians is 5.9%. The prevalence of unilateral SM is 2.1% on the right side of the thorax and 1.9% on the left side, bilateral prevalence was 1.8%. While 35.7% of the radiology residents could identify SM using CT and/or anatomy images, only 3.9% of surgery residents and none of the intern doctors could. We concluded that SM is present in the Jordanian population, with a prevalence of 5.9% which falls within the global average. Intern doctors and surgery and radiology residents are almost unaware and unfamiliar about SM.