In collaboration with Dr. Adrien-Maxence Hespel from the University of Tennessee, we present the following radiology quiz. The goal of this case is to practice identifying radiographic findings and formulating a radiographic diagnosis based on a brief patient description. The final section provides additional information about the treatment.
10 year old male castrated dog. History of chronic hematochezia for the last 3 months.
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Orthogonal radiographs of the abdomen are available for interpretation.
Abdominal serosal detail is normal. The liver is small which results in cranial deviation of the gastric axis. Otherwise, the gastrointestinal tract, spleen, kidneys and urinary bladder remain normal. The included portions of the thorax remain normal.
The size of the liver likely represents a normal patient variant, however, an underlying chronic hepatopathy cannot be entirely excluded. A cause for the patient’s reported hematochezia is not identified on the current radiographic study.
The patient had an abdominal ultrasound that was mostly unremarkable.
This case illustrates a mostly normal abdomen. It is easy to over interpret radiographs. The case had a subsequent medicine workup.
March 4, 2026
History 13 year old female spayed cat. Anorexia. Peridontal disease.
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