What does a CT allow you to do in comparison to traditional ultrasound?
CT allows you to get a 3D view and actually see the overall size. It's not as dependent on the person who is wielding an ultrasound, so I feel like it's more like concrete evidence. If I have a patient who has had a CT and we know that there are nodules in the liver or the spleen, then you can actually move and do an ultrasound to get fine needle aspirates of those organs to send them out for a more complete diagnosis.
What is the biggest benefit of using a CT scan for dental issues?
The biggest benefit to me for a CT is that I am not only focusing on the teeth, but I can actually get an overview of how the skull is looking and if there are any other concurrent diseases. For example, with a patient coming in who isn't eating and you find a resorptive lesion, well, that may not be the reason why he's not eating. It could be because there's a mass occurring in the upper airway region, and that's where CT would be more beneficial than dental radiography.
How do you utilize CT scans for preventative medicine?
They're into preventative medicine and like getting baselines, which is helpful for me going forward as the pet ages. Sometimes, we'll do a dental, but I might do a bicavity CT with contrast looking at the chest and the abdomen, just getting a baseline. How are those adrenal glands? How's the liver? How do the lungs look? Then we have a starting point for when they're older. As they age, if we start to have enzyme elevation, sometimes I'll do it as a preventative measure.
When else might you use a CT scan?
Sometimes I'll do it because the patient comes in with high liver enzymes, or there are some signs of illness that they're worried about but it's mild. We can do CTs of other parts of the body, like the neck if they're having trouble swallowing or in the chest if we're looking for metastasis from previously having had cancer removed. My abdominal CTs a lot of time are looking at just kind of a 3D image.
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