Performed a Ultrasound scan on a dog today with a suspected tumour on the heart.
When performing a Ultrasound scan of the heart, I learnt that it is essential that the scanning device is held between the ribs to avoid images of bone being taken, which would mean that a image of the required area would not be observed.
A tumour was indeed present, and this was able to be clearly seen by a dark mass on the on screen image.
I also used a stethoscope on the dog, listening to see if the tumour was having any affect on the beat of the heart. The vet informed me that if you gently move the head of the stethoscope you are able to listen to the different beating sounds of the heart chambers individually. This is however, much easier on larger animals such as horses, for the simple reason that the heart is larger.
From what myself and the vet could hear the tumour was not having a affect on the heart beat, and so treatment to reduce the size of the tumour was discussed. It was not possible to remove the tumour under surgery as this would have been too invasive, coupled with the fact that the dog was fairly old, and may not have responded well to the anaesthetic.
The vet presented the owners with the options and asked them to think about their course of action at home. This case helped me to further understand the importance of communication with clients, as well as having a good relationship with them in the veterinary profession, and this was something that was evident today with the way that the vet handled the case.
One important point to remember with Ultrasound is that the image is not 3D so this can make it difficult to identify the structure and parts present without previous knowledge of that area of the animal being scanned. Therefore it is important to first know the general layout of the organ before one can reliably indentify areas of that organ on the Ultrasound screen.
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