Presentation
Cough.
Patient Data
Well-defined right mid-zone opacity.
Heart size normal. Left lung clear.
The patient was recalled for an additional projection.
The opacity on the PA film lies in the right breast, with rim calcification along its superior limit.
Multifocal calcification and surgical clips in the left breast.
Distortion of the breast, surgical clips and focal coarse calcification consistent with prior intervention.
Case Discussion
The initial chest x-ray shows an intrathoracic mass mimic in the form of a prior right breast prosthesis. The prosthesis does lack the typical symmetry.
The now rare use of a lateral chest radiograph shows it to be a prosthesis in the breast with a little rim calcification. A CT Chest was avoided.
On the lateral projection, the calcification and clips in the left breast are also highlighted, which the lateral mammogram illustrates.