Scapulothoracic bursitis of the chest wall: Sonographic features with pathologic correlation

Scapulothoracic bursitis is an uncommon lesion. It usually appears as a growing mass at the scapulothoracic interface. Histopathologically, it is characterized by the presence of a thickened fibrotic cystic wall with a synovial inner lining and a capillary proliferation. Occasionally, villous projections can be seen arising from the inner wall. Higuchi et al have reported 9 cases of painless, distended scapulothoracic bursitis with intrabursal hemorrhage mimicking tumors, and these pseudotumoral lesions regressed spontaneously. Scapulothoracic bursitis may occur alone, or it may associate with some other diseases such as osteochodroma, scapular or rib incongruence, overuse syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic sclerosis. On computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), scapulothoracic bursitis typically is seen as a well-demarcated cystic mass situated between the serratus anterior muscle and the thoracic rib cage along the lateral chest wall. To our knowledge, however, sonographic findings of scapulothoracic bursitis have been reported only once. Here we describe a case of scapulothoracic bursitis and emphasize the clinical usefulness of high-resolution sonographic features in this uncommon lesion.