Abdominal (Yr 4)

Question 1

what are the advantages and disadvantages of abdominal radiographs?

Answer 1

advantages - good overview, assessing size and shape
disadvantages - poor at assessing wall changes or organ architecture

Question 2

what are the advantages and disadvantages of abdominal ultrasound?

Answer 2

advantages - good assessment of internal architecture and luminal space
disadvantages - poor in presence of gas

Question 3

what settings should be used for abdominal radiographs?

Answer 3

low kV and high mAs

Question 4

why is a low kV and high mAs used for abdominal radiographs?

Answer 4

to avoid scatter and improve the contrast resolution

Question 5

what is the disadvantage of using low kV and high mAs for abdominal radiographs?

Answer 5

gives a long exposure which may cause a motion artefact

Question 6

why is there poor contract in the abdomen?

Answer 6

limited amounts of fat to provide contrast

Question 7

when do you take a radiograph of the abdomen to try and avoid a motion artefact?

Answer 7

take during the expiratory pause (at the end of expiration)

Question 8

what radiographic view is used for the abdomen?

Answer 8

VD and lateral

Question 9

why is a VD view used for abdominal radiographs?

Answer 9

spreads out organs…
reduces superimposition

Question 10

when is contrast most useful in imaging the abdomen?

Answer 10

urinary studies (rarely in GI imaging)

Question 11

what are the two categories of contrast?

Answer 11

positive
negative

Question 12

what are the two types of positive contrast media?

Answer 12

iodine
barium

Question 13

what are the two types of positive iodine contrast media?

Answer 13

ionic/non-ionic
high/low osmolarity

Question 14

what are the two types of negative contrast media?

Answer 14

air
carbon dioxide

Question 15

when is barium used as a contrast?

Answer 15

GI tract studies only

Question 16

why is barium only used in GI studies?

Answer 16

causes very severe granulomatous inflammation if it gets into body cavities (can cause death)

Question 17

what are iodine contain contrasts used for?

Answer 17

GI, urinary, IV, myelography

Question 18

what is the safest type of iodine contrast?

Answer 18

non-ionic and low osmolar

Question 19

what are some issues associated with iodine contrast?

Answer 19

can cause anaphylaxis and local irritation if it escapes into the body cavity
can cause kidney failure if used IV

Question 20

what is a risk of using gas/air as a contrast medium?

Answer 20

fatal air embolisms

Question 21

should you do ultrasound or radiography first?

Answer 21

radiography (gel from ultrasound can cause an artefact)

Question 22

what ate the blind spots when ultrasounding the abdomen?

Answer 22

organs within the pelvic canal
vascular malformations
ectopic ureters

Question 23

what are the radiological (rontgen) signs?

Answer 23

number
size
shape (margination)
opacity
location

Question 24

what are the five radiographic opacities?

Answer 24

gas
fat
fluid/soft tissue
mineral
metal

Question 25

what is the mass effect?

Answer 25

gives clues about the origin or masses/space-occupying lesions due to movement of other organs

Question 26

what mass effect happens with acute pancreatitis?

Answer 26

stomach moves cranially transverse colon moves caudally

Question 27

what mass effect happens with pyometras?

Answer 27

colon moves dorsally bladder moves ventrally small intestine moves cranial/dorsal

Question 28

what are the three forms of mineralisation?

Answer 28

dystrophic metastatic other

Question 29

what is dystrophic mineralisation?

Answer 29

mineralisation secondary to tissue damage

Question 30

what is metastatic mineralisation?

Answer 30

mineralisation secondary to hypercalcaemia

Question 31

what are some examples of dystrophic mineralisation?

Answer 31

fat necrosis (bates bodies) cats adrenal glands tumours, abscesses...

Question 32

what are some examples of metastatic mineralisation?

Answer 32

toxic (vitamin D) uraemia paraneoplastic syndrome

Question 33

what are some causes of mineralisation that aren't dystrophic or metastatic?

Answer 33

urinary calculi ingesta osseous neoplasia

Question 34

how does dystrophic and metastatic mineralisation differ on radiographs?

Answer 34

dystrophic - focal lesions metastatic - specific areas (gastric)

Question 35

what provides contrast int he abdomen for radiographs?

Answer 35

omental fat

Question 36

what can cause loss of serosal detail in abdominal radiographs?

Answer 36

lack of fat brown fat (high water content so soft tissue opacity) peritoneal fluid peritonitis carcinomatosis/sarcomatosis visceral crowding (very large masses)

Question 37

what can causes abdominal structures to be very highlighted?

Answer 37

pneumoperitoneum

Question 38

what are the three main causes of a pneumoperitoneum?

Answer 38

post-surgical (can be up to 4 weeks after) penetrating trauma ruptured GIT (causing septic abdomen)

Question 39

how can you tell a patient has a pneumoperitoeum from radiographs?

Answer 39

increased contrast (gas/soft tissue) highlighting of serosal surface organs gas bubbles outside of GIT

Question 40

what is the most cranial organ of the abdomen?

Answer 40

liver

Question 41

how can you tell if the liver is enlarged on radiographs?

Answer 41

gastric axis (draw line from middle of fundus to the pylorus, this should be perpendicular to the spine)

Question 42

how does generalised hepatomegaly appear on radiographs?

Answer 42

rounded margins caudally displaced gastric axis more liver visible past costal arch

Question 43

what can cause generalised hepatomegaly?

Answer 43

nodular hyperplasia lymphoma diffuse metastasis acute hepatitis metabolic hepatopathy

Question 44

how can microhepatica be identified on radiographs?

Answer 44

liver contained within costal arch minimal soft tissue cranial to stomach cranially displaced gastric axis

Question 45

what are the two main causes of microhepatica?

Answer 45

portosystemic shunts chronic hepatitis

Question 46

where can the tail of the spleen be seen on radiographs?

Answer 46

ventrally just caudal to the liver

Question 47

where can the head of the spleen be seen on radiographs?

Answer 47

flat triangle on the left superimposing the right kidney

Question 48

how can splenomegaly appear on radiographs?

Answer 48

rounded margins tail caudally displaced (if tail is visible ventrally)

Question 49

what is contained within the retroperitoneum?

Answer 49

kidneys, bladder neck, ureters, vessels, adrenal glands, lymph nodes, prostate

Question 50

what structure is the retroperitoneum continuous with?

Answer 50

mediastinum

Question 51

where do retroperitoneal masses often arise from?

Answer 51

kidneys and lymph nodes

Question 52

can you visualise normal adrenal glands on radiographs?

Answer 52

no

Question 53

when may adrenal glands be visible in a normal healthy animals (incidental)?

Answer 53

older cats (they can mineralise)

Question 54

what mass effect does enlarged adrenal glands have?

Answer 54

ventral/lateral displacement of kidneys

Question 55

what is mineralisation of adrenal glands in dogs usually associated with?

Answer 55

neoplasia

Question 56

what are the common neoplasias of adrenal glands?

Answer 56

adenoma carcinomas

Question 57

what are some lymph nodes that can be found in the retroperitoneum?

Answer 57

para-aortic medial iliac (largest) internal iliac sacral

Question 58

what are the main peritoneal lymph nodes?

Answer 58

gastric pancreaticoduodenal splenic jejunal colic