Thoracic mass

A mass in the chest. A focal soft-tissue opacity in the lung, mediastinum or chest wall, larger than a nodule.

Thoracic mass on a lateral thorax — Thoracic mass

Two different patients, so size and positioning differ as well as the finding. Compare what the finding changes, not the dog.

What to look for

A rounded or irregular soft-tissue opacity that does not belong to a normal structure.
Displacement of the trachea, heart or lung lobes around it.
Sometimes with effusion or mineralisation.

Common causes

Primary lung tumours, metastases, mediastinal masses (lymphoma, thymoma), abscesses, granulomas.

Against the normal

In a normal thorax every soft-tissue shadow is a known structure.

Radiographs: VetXRay, Banzato T., Burti S., Zotti A., Wodzinski M., University of Padua, CC BY 4.0. Converted to web images; findings as annotated by the dataset's radiologist. Dataset · Licence. For learning: not a diagnostic service.