Page 4 - Clinical Connections - Spring 2024

RVC RESEARCH STUDY VETERINARY SERVICES RVC.AC.UK
Exotics
EXOTICS ADVANCED IMAGING

Vicki Baldrey, Lecturer in Exotic Species and Small Mammal Medicine and Surgery

iagnostic imaging plays an essential Figure 5: Slinky the ferret, at the RVC
role in exotic animal medicine, with
D CT an increasingly used and hugely
useful tool, to enable fast diagnosis and
targeted interventions.
CT is particularly useful to help us
diagnose respiratory disease. For example,
in tortoises. The lung fields can be assessed
radiographically, where moderate to severe
changes can be detected. For more subtle
changes, and to allow more specific
localisation of lesions, CT is superior and
can be performed consciously in tortoises.

Rabbits (lop eared breeds in particular) CT imaging helps us to plan ear surgery, if
commonly suffer from ear disease. Although required, so we know whether just the ear
severe lesions affecting the middle ear canal, or the tympanic bullae is/are affected.
may be picked up on radiographs, mild to We may then recommend a lateral wall
moderate lesions are not usually visible and resection, partial ear canal ablation, and/or
a CT scan is required to fully understand the bulla osteotomy to treat the problem.
pathology present.
Figure 3 shows the normal, aerated Whole body CT scanning
tympanic bullae of a rabbit. Figure 4 shows Complex cases with multiple comorbidities
a unilateral filling of the tympanic bulla with can also benefit from CT. Given the small
Figure 1: CT scan of a tortoise, showing
healthy lungs soft tissue material, in this case otitis media. size of many of our exotic patients, a whole-
body CT scan is a rapid imaging modality
and can be performed under sedation rather
than full anaesthesia. The ferret in Figure
5 presented with a history of ear disease,
respiratory signs and an abnormal shape of
the left kidney.
A whole-body CT scan enabled us to
assess the tympanic bullae, the lungs
and the abdominal contents in a single
intervention.
Figure 6 shows a large cyst affecting the
left kidney. Diagnosis of these concurrent
diseases enabled the ferret to be treated in
the most appropriate way, with all problems
and their possible interactions considered.
Figure 3: Normal air-filled tympanic bullae of
Figure 2: Unilateral pneumonia in a tortoise a rabbit

Figure 1 shows the normal CT appearance
of tortoise lungs. Figure 2 shows a CT scan
of a Hermann’s tortoise with unilateral
pneumonia. By localising the lesion, we
were able to drill a small hole through the
carapace (upper shell), with the tortoise Figure 6: Cyst in the left kidney of a ferret
under general anaesthesia, to access the
lung. The CT scanner was funded by the RVC’s
We then drained the infected fluid, taking registered charity, the Animal Care Trust.
samples for culture and cytology. A catheter
was secured in place, running through the
hole in the carapace, to the lung, allowing
us to instil small volumes of antibiotic to treat For the RVC Exotics and Small Mammals
the infection. Following several weeks of Service, please call: 020 7554 3528
treatment, the tortoise made a full recovery. Figure 4: CT scan of a rabbit showing right Email:
sided otitis media londonreferrals@rvc.ac.uk

4 Spring 2024