20110510 DX CHEST STUDY

Allison Zwingenberger

University of California, Davis

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Publication Date: 2012-05-09

History

Patient's Birth Date	20110306
Patient's Age
Patient's Sex
Modality	DX
Body Part Examined	CHEST
Study Date	20110510
Study Time

When the kitten was 6 days old, the owner noted increased respiratory effort and rate. According to the owner, chest x-rays, blood glucose, blood electrolytes were performed which were unremarkable. She has not had any respiratory difficulty since that time. Owner noted that the patient was smaller than the rest of the litter, slow to gain weight and not nursing as frequently. She started bottle feeding the kitten at 4 weeks of age. This is when she first noticed a depression in the kitten's chest.

Findings

The d/v projection is mismarked with the right side designated as left. The sternum is concave in appearance, and deviates dorsally toward the spine. This has resulted in deviation of the heart to the left hemithorax. The seventh and eight sternal segments are not visible. The cardiac silhouette appears enlarged, and the vasculature is prominent.

DDX

• Pectus excevatum
• Possible congenital cardiac anomaly causing cardiomegaly and vascular pattern

Diagnosis

• Pectus excevatum
• No heart murmur was ausculted, and further workup of the cardiac changes were not pursued

The indentation can be seen transversely across the thorax. The sternum was sutured to a splint for thoracic expansion.