Pet Stories
New CT Scanner-Case Information
A Brand Spanking New 64-slice CT Scanner
Advanced imaging modalities, like Computed Tomography (CT) scanners, can now produce extremely sharp, detailed three-dimensional anatomic images. As you can see from the images below taken with the AMC's new 64-slice CT scanner, 3-D imaging has the potential to aid diagnosis and treatment for many of our patients. The AMC is one of the few hospitals in the world to have this powerful machine available for veterinary use. 64 is not just a fancy number. And no, it doesn’t describe the year it was made like a ’64 Chevy Impala. It denotes the number of slices of detailed anatomy we can acquire in one spin around the gantry (the big hole the patient is placed into). That equates to 64 sub-millimeter (actually 0.5 mm) slices over 3.2 cm of patient anatomy. Think about that! 3.2 cm of patient anatomy can be imaged in less than a second, without having to move the patient or the table! Medial coronoid processes, tympanic bullae, and nasal tumors (just to name a few) can be imaged without general anesthesia in less time than it would take to take radiographs or even physically examine your patient. Cool!
The take home from this is that our multi-slice CT scanner will:
- Decrease scan time
- Provide the best image quality
- Reduce or eliminate the need for general anesthesia while scanning
- Expose the patient to less radiation over a given anatomic region
- And no other dedicated veterinary CT unit in the northeast can compete with it.
Super cool!
A dog with chronic otitis that developed progressive pain when eating or opening his mouth. Check out the 3-D image of the tympanic bullae and compare the right and left. The right is larger and more irregular with tons of bony remodeling. The remodeling doesn’t stop at the bulla. Compare the temporomandibular joints. Notice how the joint on the right is collapsed, flattened and remodeled relative to the left. The ear infection spread rostrally to yield a septic arthritis in the right TMJ.
A cat with a bone tumor had thoracic radiographs to assess for pulmonary metastasis. A suspicious nodule superimposed over the caudal vena cava on radiographs turned into a DEFINITE nodule on the CT. What’s more… look at all the other nodules throughout the lungs (black arrows). CT has superior resolution over radiographs any day of the week.
The first image is a dorsal reformatted image focusing on the caudal vena cava in a dog with elevated serum bile acids. See the blood vessel entering the cava cranial to the kidneys (white arrow)? That’s an anatomy no-no! No vessels should enter the cava after the renal veins until AFTER the liver. This dog has a single left gastric extra-hepatic portocaval shunt. This is also evident on the 3-D reconstruction (black arrow).
Still reading this? How about a nudey picture? Yep, that’s under the hood of our CT scanner. Lots of stuff in there, huh?
Contact Dr. Anthony Fischetti to facilitate imaging of your patients or to be provided with an overview of the machine's capabilities. Dr. Fischetti is at the AMC Monday – Friday at 212.329.8782 or email anthony.fischetti@amcny.org.