{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T03:10:48Z","timestamp":1791515448315,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":9,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785974400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of the Department of Science and Technology of Hubei Province","award":["2025AFC086"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025AFC086"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Pilonidal sinus is a chronic inflammatory skin condition predominantly found in the sacrococcygeal region, characterized by recurrent infections and sinus tract formation. Occurrences outside this area, particularly on the anterior chest wall, are exceedingly rare and prone to misdiagnosis. We report a rare case of a 24-year-old Chinese man presenting with a 3-year history of a recurrent, draining lesion on the anterior chest wall. Initial treatment via simple incision and drainage for a presumed sebaceous cyst resulted in delayed wound healing and persistent purulent discharge. Subsequent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) revealed a localized superficial lesion. Definitive surgical debridement uncovered a sinus tract containing embedded hair fragments. Histopathological examination confirmed a pilonidal sinus with a robust foreign body giant cell reaction and chronic inflammation. After complete resection, during the nearly two-year follow-up period, the healing has been smooth, and no recurrence has been observed. This case highlights the necessity of detailed clinical history-taking and the inclusion of ectopic pilonidal sinus in the differential diagnosis of refractory chest wall abscesses to prevent repeated, ineffective interventions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics16152481","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T09:46:38Z","timestamp":1786009598000},"page":"2481","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Anterior Chest Wall Pilonidal Sinus Mimicking Recurrent Abscess: Diagnostic Pitfalls and Therapeutic Implications"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Di","family":"Xu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430014, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yimin","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430014, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fangyi","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430014, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jun","family":"Fu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430014, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6000-9336","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ying","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430014, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"567","DOI":"10.1007\/s00268-017-4093-5","article-title":"The Hair in the Sinus: Sharp-Ended Rootless Head Hair Fragments can be Found in Large Amounts in Pilonidal Sinus Nests","volume":"42","author":"Bosche","year":"2017","journal-title":"World J. Surg."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00337585","article-title":"Patient characteristics and symptoms in chronic pilonidal sinus disease","volume":"10","author":"Andersen","year":"1995","journal-title":"Int. J. Colorectal Dis."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"330","DOI":"10.1186\/s13019-024-02802-y","article-title":"Co-occurrence of posterior chest wall pilonidal sinus with melanocytic nevus: A challenging presentation: A case report","volume":"19","author":"Salih","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Cardiothorac. Surg."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jviscsurg.2013.05.006","article-title":"Pilonidal sinus disease","volume":"150","author":"Bouchard","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Visc. Surg."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1186\/s13000-021-01095-2","article-title":"The many faces of solitary fibrous tumor; diversity of histological features, differential diagnosis and role of molecular studies and surrogate markers in avoiding misdiagnosis and predicting the behavior","volume":"16","author":"Tariq","year":"2021","journal-title":"Diagn. Pathol."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"759316","article-title":"Minimally Invasive Surgical Approach to Complicated Recurrent Pilonidal Sinus","volume":"2015","author":"Gul","year":"2015","journal-title":"Case Rep. Surg."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"195","article-title":"Progress in clinical diagnosis and treatment of pilonidal sinus","volume":"15","author":"Lou","year":"2020","journal-title":"China Prac. Med."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1111\/ans.13377","article-title":"Laying open (deroofing) and curettage of sinus as treatment of pilonidal disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"86","author":"Garg","year":"2016","journal-title":"ANZ J. Surg."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1016\/S1607-551X(09)70377-8","article-title":"Comparison of different surgical options in the treatment of pilonidal disease: Retrospective analysis of 175 patients","volume":"23","author":"Ersoy","year":"2007","journal-title":"Kaohsiung J. Med. Sci."}],"container-title":["Diagnostics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4418\/16\/15\/2481\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T10:02:14Z","timestamp":1786010534000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4418\/16\/15\/2481"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]]},"references-count":9,"journal-issue":{"issue":"15","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]}},"alternative-id":["diagnostics16152481"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/diagnostics16152481","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-4418"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2075-4418","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]]}}}