Surgical resection of melorheostosis in the ribs.

Melorheostosis is a rare nongenetic developmental anomaly of the cortical bone. We present a 40-year-old woman who was diagnosed with melorheostosis affecting the ribs only. Chronic pain and cosmetic deformity were her presenting symptoms. She underwent posterolateral thoracotomy and excision of the affected ribs, with a satisfactory outcome of this uncommon presentation.