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Abstract

Abstract Retained intrathoracic foreign bodies are usually discovered after a traumatic event that the patient clearly remembers. Glass, however, can be especially problematic. It is frequently retained, may be missed during the initial assessment, can appear variably on imaging, and may migrate months or even years after injury rather than becoming securely encapsulated. To our knowledge, an entirely asymptomatic intrapleural glass fragment discovered incidentally in a skydiver has not previously been reported. We describe a 34-year-old male skydiver who was referred after a routine screening chest radiograph showed an abnormal shadow in the right hemithorax. Ten years earlier, he had sustained a penetrating right-sided chest injury during a parachute landing, when he crashed through a window. At that time, he was treated for haemopneumothorax with intercostal drainage, but no foreign body was suspected or actively sought. On current examination, he had a contracted right hemithorax. Computed tomography revealed a radio-dense pleural foreign body. Right-sided thoracotomy was performed, and a 7 × 2.5 cm glass fragment was removed from dense pleural adhesions. His postoperative recovery was uneventful, and he later returned to skydiving.