Stories
from our CT

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.

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.