Image of the Week: An antiquated procedure

Slide

Case Study:
Explanation:

This x-ray was taken of an 87-year-old patient with a history of tuberculosis.

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This patient had previously undergone a thoracoplasty, a surgical procedure that was historically performed to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. Multiple ribs would be resected to permanently collapse the tuberculous cavities in the upper lobe and inactivate the disease. This form of...

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This patient had previously undergone a thoracoplasty, a surgical procedure that was historically performed to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. Multiple ribs would be resected to permanently collapse the tuberculous cavities in the upper lobe and inactivate the disease. This form of collapse therapy was relatively common prior to the widespread use of antibiotics.

View this image on Figure 1.