DIAGNOSTIC APPLICATION OF MULTIROW COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY OF THE HIP JOINT OF JAPANESE QUAILS (COTURNIX JAPONICA)

ABSTRACT The morphological assessment of selected parts of the hindlimb of Japanese quails (Temminck & Schlegel, 1849), with particular emphasis on hip joint structures, was performed, using a 128-row scanner (GE Optima Aquilion, Toshiba, Japan). Eight dead 3-month-old Japanese quails were evaluated. During intravital examination of those birds, no hindlimb abnormalities or locomotion disorders were detected. Bird body, which hip joints and other structures of hindlimbs were studied, was examined in posterioranterior position. The following hip joint structures, on both sides, were assessed in this study: hip joint gap width, acetabulum width, femoral head diameter, and femoral shaft width. The applied imaging method allowed accurate assessment of the selected structures. There was low variability between left and right hindlimbs and among individuals. Modern imaging techniques, such as multirow computed tomography (MCT) allows quick intravital assessment of normal and pathological structures of poultry bones and joints