Lameness in a dog caused by thoracic wall invasion by a pulmonary neoplasm.

Abstract

A 12-year-old fox-terrier dog presented with forelimb lameness of 3-weeks duration. Ultrasonography revealed a mass within the thoracic wall and osteolysis of the left third rib. A squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed by cytological examination of an ultrasound-guided fine needle aspirate of this mass. As a result of the diagnosis of neoplasia, the dog was euthanatized. Necropsy revealed a solitary expansile mass within the left cranial lung lobe, and a mass within the adjacent thoracic wall. Thickening of the pleura between the two masses was visible, although adhesions were not present. Histology of both masses revealed a well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first detailed description of direct invasion of the thoracic wall by a canine lung tumour.