Pin It
WINNIE'S WAGS AND TALESWINNIE'S WAGS AND TALESMy name is Winnie. As you may remember from last week’s column, I’m an 8 year-old Bassett Hound. I hope you will look for my pet column every week. This week we’re going to talk about Ultrasound examinations. I’ve had to have two so far in my lifetime. I have a history of abnormal urination and increased drinking. An Ultrasound examination helped diagnose my bladder stone. The information my veterinarian obtained from having my Ultrasound examination performed and then read by a Board-certified veterinary radiologist may have saved my life. It might help save your pet’s life, too.

THE ULTRASOUND PROCEDURE: BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES

Sometimes your veterinarian needs to know more about a sickness affecting your pet. She/he may indicate to you the need for an Ultrasound study. An Ultrasound study consists of using elaborate equipment that sends sound waves into the animal’s body that are not audible to the human ear. The returning sound waves are then translated into images of the body region being evaluated.

Alain Giroux, DVM, MSc, DACVR, of Advanced Veterinary Diagnostics, is a Board-certified veterinary radiologist. He works in Elmira, Binghamton and Ithaca/Lansing. When he is working in Ithaca/Lansing, he works from Colonial Veterinary Hospital. He helped me with this week’s column and answered the following questions to help us learn more about Ultrasound.

1. What are the benefits of Ultrasound versus obtaining radiographs (x-rays)?

Ultrasound is a safe procedure that does not produce any radiation. Although radiographs (x-rays) are of help in diagnosing many types of pet illnesses, radiographs only give information regarding the opacity, size, and shape of the body organ(s) that is/are being studied. Unfortunately, the internal contents of the body organ(s) are often not characterized by x-rays. In contrast, the Ultrasound study provides great detail regarding the inside of the body organs. An example to help you better understand the difference between an Ultrasound and an x-ray would be if you were to look at a shadow of an object in comparison to being able to look at the object itself and its insides.

2. Why should my pet have an Ultrasound performed?

The most frequently performed Ultrasound study is an Abdominal Ultrasound. It is performed to further understand the abdominal organs. It is also a great tool when trying to rule out the possibility of cancers. Ultrasound is also excellent in identifying causes for some heart diseases. It is very important to have a Cardiac Ultrasound performed when your veterinarian hears a heart murmur for the first time. A Cardiac Ultrasound will help determine the severity of the heart disease present so it may be monitored and medically managed, if necessary.

3. Who performs an Ultrasound study?

All ultrasound studies performed by Dr. Giroux’s personnel at Advanced Veterinary Diagnostics are done by a Board-certified veterinary radiologist. This is a person who has been trained for an extended period of time for the sole purpose of knowing all of the details regarding veterinary ultrasound and radiology. The difference between a Board-certified radiologist’s evaluation of your pet and a study performed by a regular veterinarian is that the Board-certified radiologist has more training, education and experience. As a specialist, a radiologist performs and evaluates Ultrasound studies on a large number of patients every day.

4. What kinds of problems or medical conditions would indicate the need for Ultrasound?

The most common problems that can be further evaluated with Ultrasound are listed below:

a) Vomiting and diarrhea;
b) Abnormal urination and increased drinking;
c) Non-specific weight loss;
d) Poor appetite;
e) Abnormal abdominal organ palpation (such as a mass felt on your animal’s body by your veterinarian);
f) Your pet is not feeling well and is lethargic;
g) Abnormal blood test;
h) Heart murmur and collapse;
i) Seizures; and
j) Pregnancy screening

A screening Ultrasound may also be of some benefit in geriatric patients to evaluate for any early but critical disease processes that could then be addressed before the disease is too severe and advanced.

5. Does Ultrasound always find the abnormalities that are causing the disease process in my pet?

Although Ultrasound is highly sensitive, and in some cases quite specific, it cannot identify every disease process. On some occasions, a disease process cannot be specifically defined, although an organ that is involved may be identified. In these cases, biopsies may be necessary.

6. What organs will be evaluated when an Ultrasound is performed?

During a routine Abdominal Ultrasound (the most common type of Ultrasound performed), the following organs will be evaluated: The liver and gall bladder, the pancreas, the intestines, the stomach, the kidneys, the urinary bladder, the adrenal glands, the spleen, the abdominal vessels and the abdominal lymph nodes.

We hope the information provided by Dr. Giroux will help you make a more informed decision when you are told your pet would benefit from an Ultrasound study. Next week’s column will explain how radiographs (x-rays) aid in the diagnosis of your pet’s broken bones and various diseases.

----
v1i8

Pin It