In today’s edition of things to diagnose your friends with.

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) refers to a collection of signs and symptoms resulting from neurovascular compression at the thoracic outlet. The word neurovascular denotes the structures -- both nerve (neuro) and artery/vein (vascular) -- that might be compromised.

The thoracic outlet is an anatomical region between the neck and the shoulder where key blood vessels and nerves travel en route to supply the upper extremity. Compression or abnormal pressure of structures in the thoracic outlet can be due to soft tissue (such as muscle or ligament) or bone (such as a normal rib, an extra rib or the collarbone) anomalies.