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Canine (Pomeranian) · Radiograph — Thorax
- Species
- Canine
- Breed
- Pomeranian
- Age
- 5.5 years
- Sex
- Female spayed
- Weight
- 3.4 kg
- Level
- Vet student and tech
Presenting complaint and brief history
The patient presented for two severe coughing fits while lying down or sleeping. She has a six-month history of intermittent unproductive coughing after drinking water. Owners also report significant weight gain over the last six months. On examination she was panting but not in respiratory distress, and she was no longer coughing.
Diagnosis
Hides the diagnosis, imaging findings, outcome, take-home points and correlation photos so you can read the images blind.
Tracheal collapse
Highly suspected
Imaging findings
An undulant soft tissue opacity superimposes the trachea and is most severe at the thoracic inlet, narrowing the tracheal luminal gas column by approximately 80 to 90 percent. A mild bronchial pulmonary pattern is present. The cardiac silhouette and pulmonary vasculature are normal.
What happened with the patient
Treated medically and discharged uneventfully.
Key take-home points
Tracheal collapse can be a dynamic process. If there is a high clinical index of suspicion for tracheal collapse but the trachea is normal on radiographs, consider fluoroscopic evaluation of the airways and/or tracheobronchoscopy.
Some fields on this case were drafted with AI assistance from the contributor's own report or dictation, then reviewed by the contributor and by a reviewer before publication. How we use AI.
Contributed by
- Oren Ofer
DVM, DVSc, DACVR
49 cases
Educational use only — not clinical advice.
Cite this case
Ofer O. Tracheal collapse. Radabase case 3fe11f20. Retrieved 2026-10-29 from https://www.radabase.vet/case/3fe11f20-ee9a-41f8-b92b-ee2601d514ac
Also searched as: collapsing trachea, collapsed trachea, windpipe collapse, collapsing windpipe, collapsed windpipe, tracheal flaccidity, dynamic tracheal narrowing, tracheal ring collapse
Discussion
Questions and observations from colleagues. Never post identifying patient or owner information.
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