Bifid Rib with Additional Oval Intercostal Space: A Rare Case of Anterior Chest Wall Deformity

Abstract

Morphological variations in the anterior osseous thoracic skeleton are a rare entity. Its incidence includes accessory bones atypical fusion or non bony fusion of ribs and accessory foramina. Knowledge of these rare skeletal variants is vitally important for surgeons and radiologist performing thoracic surgeries and counting ribs, because such anomaly could mislead them during the procedure. During the routine dissection of adult male cadaver for undergraduate medical students, we observed a variation of bifurcation of anterior end of right third rib and corresponding costal cartilage. These bifurcated ends were joined together to form oval additional intercostal space. Bifid ribs are usually asymptomatic, and usually detected during routine radiographical procedures. It is peremptory that detection of bifid rib can help early diagnosis of Gorlin’s syndrome.