Cartilaginous bridges between the adjacent costal cartilages – a case report

Formation of additional intercostal space by bifurcation of rib and its cartilage is well documented. But division of the intercostal space by cartilaginous bridges between the adjacent costal cartilages is very rare. We report one such case where the 5th and 6th intercostal spaces divided because of the two cartilaginous bridges between the 5th, 6th and 7th costal cartilages. These cartilaginous bridges uniting the adjacent cartilages were about 2.5 cm broad. Knowledge of this variation is of importance to plastic surgeons, radiologists and other medical disciplines.