Buffalo Hump

[ALybella]

My mom has supraclavicular fat pads and a buffalo hump.  They performed numerous chest x-rays and they were negative, no masses were found. He recommended a chest ct-scan to completely rule everything out, but he said the chest x-ray has made him optimistic as it was negative.  He also, said she is over weight and the buffalo hump can be caused by an infinite amount ofbenign conditions.

My question is, can the chest x-ray be somewhat reassuring, since it was negative?  What else can cause a buffalo hump

[Kevin Pho, MD]

A buffalo hump can be caused by Cushing's disease, which is a disorder of the adrenal glands.   An excess of cortisol normally results in this, and should be evaluated with blood and urine tests.

A negative chest CT and CXR would make lung diseases less likely.  

This option should be discussed with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
www.kevinmd.com

[Clarissairene]

Reading this made me cringe... because I have the same thing, a buffalo hump, i am only 30 years old. The first thing I thoguht was cushings! And got really down and depressed adn convinced doctors to do all these tests on me and I found out not all the tests are accurate and you have to test at the right time that your body excretes the cortisol. Anyways... just didnt want you to do what i did after I read about cushings. I mean, I went into a major depressino thinking I had this. So far so good. I really think being overweight and my bad posture has done this too me. So does my doctor. Hope everytying works out for your mom.