The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of triple-phase helical computed tomography (CT) for differentiating canine hepatic masses. Seventy dogs with hepatic masses underwent triple-phase CT followed by surgical removal of the hepatic masses. Triple-phase helical CT scans for each dog included precontrast, arterial phase, portal venous phase, and delayed phase studies. The removed hepatic masses were histopathologically classified as hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 47), nodular hyperplasia (n = 14), and hepatic metastatic tumors (n = 9) in dogs. Of the 47 hepatocellular carcinomas, the most common CT findings included a heterogeneous pattern with hyper-, iso-, and hypoenhancement in both the arterial and portal venous phases (40/47, 85.1%). Of the 14 nodular hyperplasias, the most common CT findings were a homogeneous pattern with hyper- and isoenhancement in both the portal venous and delayed phases (13/14, 92.9%). Of nine hepatic metastatic tumors, the most common CT findings included a homogeneous hypoenhancement pattern in both the arterial and portal venous phases (8/9, 88.9%). In addition, 5 (55.6%) showed homogeneous hypoenhancement patterns in the delayed phase. Findings from our study indicated that triple-phase CT is a useful tool for preoperative differentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma, nodular hyperplasia, and hepatic metastatic tumors in dogs.

ABSTRACT. Pulsed tissue Doppler imaging (pulsed TDI) has been demonstrated to be useful for the estimation of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic functions in various human cardiac diseases. The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between pulsed TDI and LV function by using cardiac catheterization in healthy dogs and to evaluate the clinical usefulness of pulsed TDI in dogs with spontaneous mitral regurgitation (MR). The peak early diastolic velocity (E'), peak atrial systolic velocity (A'), and peak systolic velocity (S') were detectable in the velocity profiles of the mitral annulus in all the dogs. In the healthy dogs, S' and E' were correlated with LV peak +dP/dt and -dP/dt, respectively. E' was lower in dogs with MR than in dogs without cardiac diseases. E/E' in the MR dogs with decompensated heart failure was significantly increased in comparison with those with compensated heart failure. The sensitivity and specificity of the E/E' cutoff value of 13.0 for identifying decompensated heart failure were 80% and 83%, respectively. In addition, E/E' was significantly correlated with the ratio of left atrial to aortic diameter. These findings suggest that canine pulsed TDI can be applied clinically for estimation of cardiac function and detection of cardiac decompensation and left atrial volume overload in dogs with MR. KEY WORDS: canine, cardiac function, echocardiography, mitral regurgitation, pulsed tissue Doppler.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 67(12): 1207-1215, 2005 Doppler echocardiography is a predominant noninvasive modality that provides a large variety of useful information on cardiac conditions in human and small animal patients. Pulsed tissue Doppler imaging (pulsed TDI) derived from Doppler echocardiography can quantify the velocity of myocardial wall and/or valve annulus motions [30,31,40]. In humans, pulsed TDI of the mitral annulus and myocardial wall has been demonstrated to reflect the systolic and diastolic left ventricular (LV) function in normal subjects [30,45] and patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) [22,46], hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) [36,39,46], restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) [14,16,35], constrictive pericarditis [14,16,35], ischemic heart diseases [4,31,43,46], heart failure [1,24], mitral regurgitation (MR) [2,3,17], atrial fibrillation [29], arterial hypertension [13,46], and cardiac amyloidosis [20].Analysis of pulsed TDI revealed that the peak early diastolic velocity (E'), peak atrial systolic velocity (A'), and peak systolic velocity (S') are typically derived from the velocity profiles of myocardial or valve annulus motions (Fig. 1) [30]. Several studies have revealed that E' and A' are correlated with LV diastolic function [1,13,16,20,24,26,31,36,39,40,45], and S' is correlated with LV systolic function [17,20,22,29,30,43,46]. E' was almost independent of preload and showed no pseudonormal pattern in contrast to the peak early diastolic velocity of LV inflow (E) [5,24]. In addition, a ratio of E to E' (E/E') showed good correlation with pulmo...

BackgroundGallbladder agenesis (GBA) is extremely rare in dogs.Hypothesis/ObjectivesTo describe the history, clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of dogs with GBA.AnimalsSeventeen client‐owned dogs with GBA.MethodsMedical records from 2006 through 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Dogs were included when GBA was suspected on abdominal ultrasonography and confirmed by gross evaluation. Signalment, clinical signs, clinicopathological data, diagnostic imaging, histopathology, treatment, and outcome were recorded.ResultsDogs were of 6 different breeds, and Chihuahuas (10 of 17) were most common. Median age at presentation was 1.9 (range, 0.7–7.4) years. Clinical signs included vomiting (5 of 17), anorexia (2 of 17), ascites (2 of 17), diarrhea (1 of 17), lethargy (1 of 17), and seizures (1 of 17). All dogs had increased serum activity of at least 1 liver enzyme, most commonly alanine aminotransferase (15 of 17). Fifteen dogs underwent computed tomography (CT) cholangiography; common bile duct (CBD) dilatation was confirmed in 12, without evidence of bile duct obstruction. Gross evaluation confirmed malformation of the liver lobes in 14 of 17 dogs and acquired portosystemic collaterals in 5 of 17. Ductal plate malformation was confirmed histologically in 16 of 17 dogs. During follow‐up (range, 4–3,379 days), 16 of 17 dogs remained alive.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceDogs with GBA exhibit clinicopathological signs of hepatobiliary injury and hepatic histopathological changes consistent with a ductal plate abnormality. Computed tomography cholangiography was superior to ultrasound examination in identifying accompanying nonobstructive CBD distention. Computed tomography cholangiography combined with laparoscopic liver biopsy is the preferable approach to characterize the full disease spectrum accompanying GBA in dogs.

The differential diagnosis of canine adrenal tumors was feasible based on triple-phase CT findings, including morphological features, CT values, and intratumoral contrast attenuation. Preoperative diagnosis using triple-phase helical CT may be useful for surgical planning in dogs with adrenal tumors.

CT angiography was well suited to provide anatomic details of porto-azygos shunts and comprehensively documented that all porto-azygos shunts had a thoracic terminus, after crossing the diaphragm through the esophageal hiatus. Different shunt types existed with minor variations.