Abdominal Imaging Flashcards
5 radiographic densities
Radiolucent (blackest) → radiopaque (whitest)
Air → fat → fluid → bone → metal
Lateral projection
Position animal on the right side
Take film on expiration
Center beam @ cd. tip of last rib
Light @ hip joints cr. to the xyphoid
Ventraldorsal position
Diaphragm to cranial ilium
Do cr. and cd. films (cr. center beam 2-3 ribs higher, cd. 4-6 inches cd to ribs)
Standard/ routine views
Dorsoventral, Ventrodorsal, right lateral recumbency , left lateral recumbency
Dog v. cat abdomen
Kidneys more difficult in dogs
Tail of spleen seen in ventral mid abdomen in dogs and not seen in cats
Sub- lumbar muscles are more prominent in cats
Lumbar vertebrae more rectangular in cats
Which structures are seen in the retroperitoneal space?
Kidneys, adrenals, ureter
LNs, and blood vessels
Which structures are seen in the peritoneal cavity?
Liver, stomach, pancreas, spleen, SI/LI, urinary bladder, prostate, ovaries and uterus, LNs
Gastric axis
Good indicator of liver size
Perpendicular to spine, parallel with plane of ribs
Normal stomach
Dog: fundus dorsal on lateral and left on VD, body on midline, pylorus on right
Cat: Fundus and body on left abdomen and pylorus on midline
Hepatomegaly
Caudal shift to sotmach axis
Microhepatica
Cranial shift to stomach axis
Gas in normal stomach
Gas rises, fluid falls
RLR and DV: fluid in pylorus and gas in fundus
LLR and VD: gas in pyrlous and fluid in fundus
Normal duodenum
Cr. flexure from pylorus
Descending along right lateral abdominal wall
Cd/ flexure @ L6
Ascending (pancreas medial to duodenal flexure)
Normal Jejunum
Mid abdominal, moveable due to mesentery
Normal Ileum
Empties into ascending colon @ ileocolic orifice
No differentiated from jejunum on film
Normal Small Intestine in a dog
Shouldn’t exceed 2.5-3 x width of rib
Shouldn’t exceed 1.5x central height of lumbar vertebra (L5)
Normal small intestine in a cat
Shouldn’t exceed twice the height of central pt. of L4
Shouldn’t exceed 12 mm
Normal Cecum
Right of midline, mid-dorsal central abdomen (L2-L3), cecocolic junction
Normal cecum in a dog and cat
Dog: S shaped, corkscrew, compartmentalized, gas filled
Cat: Usually not visualized (short and comma)
Normal colon
Often contains feces and gas
<1.5x lenth of L7
VD: question mark shape
LLR: straight horizontal line or sloping caudodorsally from stomach to pelvic inlet
Normal feline adomen
Renal size 2-2.5 x L2 on VD view
Wider than dog kidneys (plump)
Retroperitoneal fat allows visualization of kidneys
Normal K9 abdomen
Renal size 2.5-3.5x L2 on VD view, bean shaped
RK more cr. than LK in VD and RLR
Normal urinary bladder
Tear drop shape superimposed by colon especially in dog
Normal prostate
Soft tissue opacity cranial to the brim of the pelvis
Triangle of fat between neck or bladder and prostate
