We do a lot of ultrasound training for vets in practice with all levels of experience and, in our role as peripatetic ultrasonographers, we get to see up close and personal how GP vets use ultrasound themselves. Over the years I’ve gradually changed how I feel about how to approach teaching diagnostic ultrasound. In the … Continue reading
The FAT CAT study of 2015: Hogan DF, Fox PR, Jacob K, et al. Secondary prevention of cardiogenic arterial thromboembolism in the cat: the double-blind, randomized, positive-controlled feline arterial thromboembolism; clopidogrel vs aspirin trial (FAT CAT). J Vet Cardiol 2015; 17: S306–S317 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26776588/ …demonstrated superiority of clopidogrel over aspirin in cats with a history of … Continue reading
It’s a frequent request: to scan and stage dogs which have received a diagnosis of high grade cutaneous mast cell tumour (MCT) on histopathology. Or sometimes the request comes after cytological diagnosis and before surgery. The main issues arising here for sonographers are: What’s the sensitivity of sonography in picking up mast cell infiltrates in … Continue reading
The use of intra-operative ultrasound in canine shunt surgery has been described previously: J Am Vet Med Assoc 2003 Apr 15;222(8):1086-92, 1077Intraoperative ultrasonography of the portal vein during attenuation of intrahepatic portocaval shunts in dogsViktor Szatmári 1, Frederik J van Sluijs, Jan Rothuizen, George Voorhout https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/222/8/javma.2003.222.1086.xml The authors of that study interrogated the main extrahepatic … Continue reading
Urethral obstruction is another of those scenarios where ultrasound is under-used. Like azotaemic cats, I feel that they pretty much all benefit from being scanned. This is a recent patient, a male cat obviously, 24 hours after a difficult unblocking and who still has an indwelling urethral catheter. Several things to take from this: … Continue reading
Conventional teaching in veterinary cardiology tends to put the emphasis on objective, technical methods of assessing systolic function requiring considerable skill: primarily left ventricular ejection fraction by Simpson method of discs (SMOD) and fractional shortening. However, intra- and inter-observer variation is considerable and I worry that even quite experienced sonographers place reliance on numbers which, … Continue reading
Broadly-speaking, it’s a bit easier these days to persuade pet-owners that antibiotics may not always be necessary, I still feel, however, that the potential negative effects are widely under-appreciated. Certainly, with clients, I always feel that they see the main reason to avoid antibiotics as helping avoid resistance in the population as a whole. The … Continue reading
With the advent of lung ultrasound and the resulting great leap forward in our ability to diagnose bronchopneumonia relatively easily and with good specificity has opened a door on its true incidence and the spectrum of associated presenting signs. Notably, we now see affected dogs in which gastrointestinal signs are prominent. It’s hard to prove … Continue reading
There are still relatively few peer-reviewed publications documenting sonographic changes associated with FIP in domestic cats. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. May-Jun 2010;46(3):152-60. Abdominal ultrasonographic findings associated with feline infectious peritonitis: a retrospective review of 16 casesKristin M Lewis 1, Robert T O’Brien https://meridian.allenpress.com/jaaha/article-abstract/46/3/152/209566/Abdominal-Ultrasonographic-Findings-Associated?redirectedFrom=fulltext Lewis and O’Brien remains the most comprehensive account. The only caveat is … Continue reading
Hugo, is a Cocker Spaniel; about 5 years old. For months he had exhibited choking on swallowing and episodes of aspiration pneumonia. There was been no evidence of neurological dysfunction apart from dysphagia. Oesophageal appearance and function was unremarkable on radiography, ultrasonography and endoscopy. Ultrasonography of the upper oesophagus during feeding showed that very little … Continue reading
