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Could this be costo or Tieze Syndrome?

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Jstig88
Jstig88

For some background info, I had Covid back in December with the start of pneumonia. One of my symptoms was shortness of breath. After recovering from Covid, I occassionally experienced the shortness of breath but it was not everyday.

Fast forward to February, I found out I had to have my gallbladder removed. For about a week leading up to the surgery, I experienced the same shortness of breath but this time everyday, as well as heart palpitations. I had an EKG and blood work done before the surgery, and everything came back fine.

After the surgery, the shortness of breath continued and was constant for several weeks. I went to the doctor and was put on a daily inhaler and it has definitely helped my shortness of breath. However, about two weeks ago I noticed that the right side if my sternum, between my sternum and ribs, is much more prominent than the left. It definitely does not feel like a lump, but more so part of the bone or possibly the cartilage. I do not have any pain/tenderness from it.

I went to the doctor last week and she agreed it doesn't feel like a lump, but isn't quite sure what it is so she sent me for xrays of my spine, ribs, and sternum. The results did not find anything abnormal, including no findings of any masses. She does want me to go for a CT scan though.

But in the meantime, I've been trying to identify what this could be and results for Costo and Tieze syndrome keep coming up. I am wondering if it is possible to have either of those without experiencing pain? From the possible causes of both of those, it sounds like it's possible either one could have developed from a viral infection (covid) or from trauma to my chest (possibly my laparoscopic gallbladder surgery).

Aside from my shortness of breath and the "mass" I can feel in the area between my sternum and ribs, I don't have any other symptoms. As mentioned, my blood work and EKG pre-surgery and my xrays after have all come back normal. I am trying not to worry that it could be something serious, so I was just hoping to get some other people's experiences with either of these conditions.

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