Chest pain without a clue-ultrasound to rescue occult multiple myeloma: A case report

BACKGROUND: Chest pain is one of the most common symptoms with which a patient presents to a doctor. Differentials include, but are not limited to, cardiac pulmonary, gastrointestinal, psychosomatic and musculoskeletal causes. In our case, ultrasound of the chest wall paved the way for the diagnosis of multiple myeloma, which occultly presented with chronic chest pain. CASE SUMMARY: Here we report a case of 50-year-old man with chronic chest pain without anemia or renal failure who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, despite negative bence jones protein and M band electrophoresis. An ultrasound of the chest wall showed cortical irregularities along with a hypoechoic mass in the sternum and left 5(th) rib, which helped us in clinching the diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound of bone can often aid in reaching a diagnosis indirectly if not directly.