I should be doing my accounts but this is really a lot more interesting. A few weeks back I posted a case with gas in the portal circulation. Today’s cat has the other potential cause of gas densities in the liver: aerobilia. This is also not common. He is a quite poorly little cat with … Continue reading
Ever spent a long time hunting ureteral jets? This is how they should be: This dog likely has myoglobinuria. The bladder contains heavily pigmented urine -which appears to have fine echotexture in this image. At the time of scanning she had been on intravenous fluids for a few hours. I suspect that the urine now … Continue reading
Our understanding of shunt anatomy in cats and dogs has moved forward recently with advances in imaging technology: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26563977 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23888909 In cats, shunts through the right gastric vein appear not to have reported; whereas in dogs they are quite common. Broadly-speaking, feline congenital extrahepatic shunts may originate at 1) splenic vein 2) mesenteric vein or … Continue reading
Anaphylaxis is familiar in human medicine and as a general concept the idea of a systemic, immediate hypersensitivity reaction is straightforward enough. However, strict defining criteria for a diagnosis of anaphylactic episodes have proved more difficult. The phenomenon is much less commonly documented in domestic pets than in people. This case relates to a young, … Continue reading
Gas densities in the liver on ultrasonography may be found within the parenchyma (emphysematous hepatitis: often associated with necrotic neoplasms), in and around the gallbladder (emphysematous cholecystitis) or in vessels -either biliary tracts (pneumobilia) or portal veins. Gas in portal veins tends to be carried away from the to the periphery of the liver. This … Continue reading
This is very similar to the one from last week, but with videos: The main part of the portal vein is of unremarkable diameter (suggesting that most portal flow reaches this point). At the confluence with the gastroduodenal vein (GDV), however, flow is diverted through the GDV and then turns dorsally into the right gastric. … Continue reading
This poor chap had suffered ‘pyrexia of unknown origin’ for the best part of a year prior to this episode. Despite thorough investigation, a definite diagnosis remained elusive. Until he blew up a new lump on his left flank. That looks pretty consistent with an abscess doesn’t it? But no sign of anything foreign that … Continue reading
There are many aspects to this poor dog’s case. For about a year she suffered multi-limb lameness, then developed skin lesions with interface dermatitis, then severe anaemia, then liver disease. She was also ANA positive and fulfills many criteria for SLE. Ultrasonographically, the most striking feature as that it took me 10 minutes to find … Continue reading
Congenital extra-hepatic shunts in dogs most commonly involve diversion of blood from the portal system via either 1) the splenic vein and thence left gastric vein to the systemic circulation (cava, azygous or left phrenic veins) or 2) via the gastroduodenal vein and then right gastric vein to any of the same systemic veins. This … Continue reading
Another slightly unusual case: a 3 year-old Dalmatian with a 5-month history of vomiting and weight loss. On ultrasonography the stomach is dilated despite a 12-hour fast: The area of the cranial duodenal flexure is also abnormal: We couldn’t be sure at the time but there does appear to be a hyperechoic fragment of foreign … Continue reading
