Determination of enhancement effect and diameters of the major arteries using the dual-headed power injector in CT-A in African Grey parrots
Date Issued
2014
Date
2014
Author(s)
Lee, Yen-Lin
Abstract
Atherosclerosis is probably the most common cardiovascular disease in parrots. Nowadays, ante-mortem diagnosis of atherosclerosis in birds is still difficult. In humans, CT-A has long been used as a non-invasive, sensitive tool to identify calcified and non-calcified plaques in major arteries. At this time, it seems to be a promising method to evaluate the avian cardiovascular system. The objective of our study was to establish the CT-A protocol using the dual-headed power injector in African Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) as well as reference range of attenuation value and diameters of the major arteries. 16-slice CT scanning was used to measure the region of interest (ROI) in 6 major arteries. Before scanning, each bird underwent physical, blood, and cardiologic examination and were considered healthy. Each bird was under general anesthesia during CT-A procedure. The dual-headed power injector with saline chaser technique was used to administer contrast medium and saline flush. We used the real-time bolus-tracking method, and triggered the scan manually once the peak enhancement of ascending aorta was reached. The measurements were obtained by 2 clinicians double-blindly. The reference range before and after contrast medium administration via body, pulmonary, and bone window were set up accordingly. Inter-observer consistency in measurements was high in post-contrast values via a body window. Hence, we suggested performing CT-A in parrots with contrast medium administration in body window. However, further studies will be needed to improve the potential and utility of CT-A in diagnosis of atherosclerosis in parrots.
Subjects
African Grey parrots
Atherosclerosis
Bolus-tracking method
Computed tomographic angiography (CT-A)
Dual-headed power injector
SDGs
Type
thesis
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