Today’s case is a 13-year-old male neutered Miniature Schnauzer with recurrent cystic calculi.
13 year old Miniature Schnauzer
Teaching and learning about veterinary diagnostic imaging.
Teaching and learning about veterinary diagnostic imaging.
Today’s case is a 13-year-old male neutered Miniature Schnauzer with recurrent cystic calculi.
I totally missed that. I used my “paradigm” for the abdomen. That helps me look at all the stuff that should be there and to check that it’s normal. How do you make sure to look for stuff that shouldn’t be there?
Hi David,
The systematic approach for looking at radiographs is great to direct your attention to the organs that are normally visible, and the common areas to evaluate for those not normally seen (like the pancreas). The unexpected finding is tricky. Some are more obvious, such as a mass or change in opacity. With those I often think about the structures present in that quadrant of the abdomen, and the organs you normally see as well as those that are too small to see (adrenal, ovary etc.) to come up with a list of differential diagnoses. Subtle findings like this are difficult though. We had help in seeing this one because it was palpated on physical exam, and much more obvious on ultrasound. If you don’t include these already, add “Is there a mass effect?” and “Is there any change in opacity?” to your abdominal interpretation paradigm. Obvious changes will jump out at you, but if you think about looking for these you’ll pick up small changes as well.