a rare cause of chronic cough: intrathoracic gossypiboma

intrathoracic gossypiboma, a retained surgical sponge in the thoracic cavity, is a rare but serious complication of thoracic surgeries. a 70-year-old man presented with an eight-month history of cough. he had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery eight years ago. the posteroanterior chest x-ray revealed a well-marginated homogeneous opacity at the left hemithorax with striped appearance in the center. thoracic ct revealed a pleural-based mass at the left lower lobe with a hyperdense rim. after the diagnosis of gossypiboma, it was removed surgically. although rare after thoracic surgery, gossypibomas need to be considered in the differential diagnosis in case of respiratory symptoms.