Newborn calf with strange lumps all over its chest
📍 JP — Tottori, Japan🐄 Cows🎂 4 days old🧴 Skin
🎨 Illustration — reconstruction of the documented case, not a real photo of the animal
⚠️ This information is provided for awareness only and does not replace an examination by a veterinarian.
🤖 Summary produced automatically from the scientific publication cited at the bottom of the page.
A 4-day-old calf was born with seven large lumps on its left chest wall — a rare case never studied before with ultrasound and CT scan.
What happened?
Right after birth, the farmer noticed this calf had several strange lumps lined up along the left side of its chest, from bottom to top — seven different swellings. The calf was also in poor general condition, so the vet was called to investigate.
🔎 What did the vet find?
The vet did an ultrasound and found uniform masses trapped between the skin and muscles, with poor blood flow inside them. A CT scan then confirmed seven masses in the chest wall, one of which was so large it had completely deformed the ribs, bending them inward. A needle biopsy showed the masses were made of abnormal, immature blood vessels mixed with muscle and fat tissue — a condition called juvenile angiomatosis, a very rare vascular disease affecting very young animals.
🩺 What did the vet do?
ℹ️ Treatment given to THIS animal, decided by its veterinarian. It is not a prescription: never apply it without veterinary advice.
After all the tests (ultrasound, CT scan, biopsy), the vet saw the calf's condition was very poor and nothing could save it. Three days after the exams, the calf was euthanized to spare it further suffering.
🖼️ The case in pictures
Illustration — case reconstruction①Before treatment
The calf shows seven swellings aligned on its left flank, visible since birth.
Illustration — case reconstruction②Examination
The vet uses ultrasound and CT scan to locate the masses and check if the ribs are affected.
✅ What happened next?
The necropsy confirmed the masses had invaded deep muscle tissue and even affected the heart and lymph nodes. Lab analysis of the tissue confirmed the final diagnosis of juvenile angiomatosis.
⚠️ Advice for the farmer
This is a very rare congenital disease that cannot be prevented; the key is to have any newborn with abnormal lumps examined quickly by a vet.
📚 Source
Source
PubMed Central
Title
Case Report: Diagnosis of multiple juvenile angiomatosis in a newborn calf.
Authors
Tsuka T, Kusuda K, Hishikawa S, Hashimoto N, Sunden Y.
Illustration — case reconstruction 
Illustration — case reconstruction 
