Stories
from our CT

A sixteen-year-old cat was being treated for an overactive thyroid gland. Despite this, she was losing a lot of weight and had been vomiting blood for a long time. The vet needed to know what was happening throughout her body and therefore recommended a CT scan from head to tail.

In the neck, the CT found an enlarged right lobe of the thyroid gland, a mass about four centimetres long that was not growing into the surrounding tissue. However, it also showed things that an examination of the thyroid alone would not have revealed: a thickened stomach wall, enlarged lymph nodes in several places, lesions in the spleen, tiny nodules in the liver, nodules in the left kidney and a little fluid in the abdomen. The right kidney was small, which is consistent with a long-standing disease.

A seven-year-old French Bulldog had started tilting his head to the right and had a discharge from his right ear. To find out what was going on in the ear and deeper behind it, he had a whole-body CT scan.

The CT confirmed inflammation of both outer ear canals, with a build-up of secretions on the right, and changes in the middle ear cavities that are common in flat-faced breeds. At the back of the nose it showed aberrant nasal turbinates, in other words tissue that should not normally be there.

The most important finding, however, was one the dog had not come in for: a mass about five centimetres in size at the base of the heart, wrapping around the aorta and pressing on both pulmonary arteries, and next to it fluid in the sac around the heart. An examination focused only on the ear would have left it hidden.

An eleven-year-old male cat had had a firm lump on his neck for about two months. His neck and head were so itchy that he was injuring himself. The vet recommended a whole-body CT scan to see where the lump was coming from and whether the problem was limited to the neck.

The lump turned out to be enlarged salivary glands below the right side of the lower jaw and near the ear, together with enlarged lymph nodes in the neck. However, the CT also found lesions in both lungs (small and large nodules and changes in the lung tissue) and an intussusception in the stomach, a condition in which one part of the stomach slides into another, like the sections of a telescope.

A nine-year-old cat had a lump removed from her thigh two months earlier; it turned out to be an adenocarcinoma. Later, because a diaphragmatic hernia was suspected, she underwent abdominal surgery. She then developed rapid abdominal breathing, her heart sounds were faint and her kidney values rose. Before the CT, about 100 ml of milky (chylous) fluid was drained from her chest.

The CT showed fluid in both halves of the chest and several lung lobes that were compressed and airless, most likely because of the pressure of the fluid itself. The lymph nodes in the chest were enlarged, as was one behind the knee. Next to the spine in the pelvic area, the CT found an irregularly thickened muscle, and both adrenal glands were also enlarged.

A ten-year-old male cat had a lump next to his breastbone. The vet needed to know how big it was, what it involved and whether it had spread anywhere, and therefore recommended a CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis.

The mass was about five centimetres in size. It lay under the skin next to the first three segments of the breastbone and was very probably already growing into the chest muscle. It did not extend into the chest cavity or reach the lungs. Alongside this, the CT picked up a small, irregular right kidney, a widened left ureter and signs that both ureters open in an unusual place, into the urethra instead of the bladder.

An eleven-year-old female dog had a mass by her right hip, and a sample had confirmed it as a soft tissue sarcoma. Before a decision on treatment could be made, it was necessary to know how big it was, what it involved and whether it had spread anywhere. That is the purpose of a whole-body CT scan, known as oncological staging.

The tumour was about seven centimetres in size, was growing into the buttock muscles and extended into the pelvic cavity, where it was pressing slightly on the rectum. The bone beneath it was normal. In the lower back on the left, the CT found another mass, about seven centimetres in size. It found no distant metastases and no enlarged lymph nodes.

A ten-year-old female dog had had digestive problems for about a year. Then her lymph nodes became enlarged all over her body, she had a fever and a large mass grew under the skin on the right side of her chest. The vet recommended a whole-body CT scan to find out where in the body the disease was present.

The CT showed enlarged lymph nodes literally from head to hind legs: on the head and neck, in the chest, in the armpits, in the groin and behind the knees. Under the skin of the chest and abdomen it found flat masses on both sides; the largest, on the right flank, extended from the chest almost to the lower back. The liver, spleen and thymus were also enlarged.

A thirteen-year-old dog had raised liver values on blood tests, and a liver tumour was suspected. To find out whether there was a lesion in the liver and whether anything had spread in the body, the vet recommended a whole-body CT scan.

The liver was evenly and mildly enlarged, with no well-defined lesion, and the lymph nodes next to the liver were enlarged. The lungs were clear, and the CT found nothing significant in the other organs.

A six-year-old female patient was lethargic and had low blood sugar. The vet suspected an insulinoma, a tumour of the pancreas that releases too much insulin. She came for a CT scan to find out whether there was a visible lesion in the pancreas or elsewhere in the abdomen.

The CT found no lesion in the pancreas or in the other abdominal organs. Minor changes in the lungs may be related to the anaesthetic. An incidental finding was a mild narrowing, on the left, of the opening through which a nerve passes between the last lumbar vertebra and the sacrum.

For about a year, a five-year-old patient had repeatedly been lame on his left front leg. The elbow is difficult to assess on X-rays because the bones overlap there, so the vet recommended a CT scan of both front legs.

In the left elbow, the CT showed disease of a small bony projection of the ulna, called the medial coronoid process. This is a form of elbow dysplasia. The projection had not broken off, the joint surfaces fitted together correctly, and there was no new bone or soft tissue change around the joint.

For the past month, an eleven-year-old dog had been having epilepsy-like seizures and turning in circles to the right. The vet recommended a CT scan of the head to look for the cause in the brain and skull.

In the right hemisphere of the brain, the CT found a lesion about two centimetres in size that was pressing on its surroundings: the falx, the natural dividing wall between the hemispheres, was pushed slightly to the left. On the right, the thin bone that separates the brain from the nasal cavity was damaged, but the change had not grown into the nose. The CT also picked up breakdown of the necks of two teeth in the right upper jaw, with bone loss around one of them.

A fourteen-year-old dog had abdominal pain, was lethargic and weak in his hind legs, and had raised kidney values and enlarged lymph nodes. The vet recommended a CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis to see how these problems were connected.

The CT showed enlarged lymph nodes in both the chest and the abdomen, an enlarged liver, both kidneys enlarged and interspersed with nodules, a thickened right ureter that was not draining the contrast agent, and tiny nodules in the lungs. It also found changes in the gallbladder, a little fluid in the abdomen with signs of inflammation of the abdominal lining, and an enlarged heart.

An eleven-year-old female German Shepherd came in with breathlessness, lethargy and anaemia. To find out what was behind this and how far the disease extended, the vet recommended a CT scan of her neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis.

The CT showed enlarged lymph nodes in several parts of the body, an enlarged liver and spleen, a small amount of fluid in the abdomen and changes in the lungs that were most consistent with pneumonia. Incidental findings were degenerative changes in the hip joints and the spine.