fig.1 photograph of caudal aspect of right pinna (clipped, prior to surgery)
A seven-month-old, male, entire Great Dane presented with an irregular, linear, firm, fixed, non-painful, subcutaneous mass, running from the base of the right pinna to insert through the cleidocervicalis muscle of the mid-cervical region (fig. 1) noted by the owner a few months previously. Fine needle aspiration of the mass by the referring veterinarian had yielded blood.
fig. 2 - T2W MR-scan of lymphatic vessel
MR-scans (fig. 2) revealed the mass to be confined to the subdermal tissues, and the high T2W signal suggested it was fluid-filled, consistent with an aberrant lymphatic vessel.
Exploratory surgery revealed a segmented, fluid-filled, linear structure (fig. 3) which was excised en bloc. Histopathology confirmed the imaging diagnosis, and the patient made an unremarkable recovery from surgery.
fig. 3 - intraoperative photograph of vessel showing fluid filled spaces