Computed Tomography Angiography of Situs Inversus, Portosystemic Shunt and Multiple Vena Cava Anomalies in a Dog

ABSTRACT. A 5-year-old Shih Tzu was presented with intermittent vomiting and anorexia. Microhepatica and reversed position of the ab-dominal organs were observed on radiography. Ultrasonographically, portosystemic shunt (PSS) was tentatively diagnosed. Computed tomography (CT) revealed that the distended portal vein drained into the left hepatic vein. The caudal vena cava (CdVC) split postrenally and converged at the renal level. Cranial to this, the azygos continuation of the CdVC was confirmed. In the thorax, a persistent left cranial vena cava (CrVC) was found along with right CrVC. This is the first report of a dog with persistent left CrVC and multiple abdominal malformations. CT angiography was useful in evaluating the characteristics of each vascular anomaly and determining the required surgical correction in this complex case. KEY WORDS: azygos continuation of the caudal vena cava, CT, persistent left cranial vena cava, portosystemic shunt, situs inversus. doi: 10.1292/jvms.13-0212; J. Vet. Med. Sci. 75(11): 1525–1528, 2013 Situs inversus is a congenital condition in which the vis-ceral position is reversed as a mirror image. This condition is the main characteristic of Kartagener’s syndrome with rhinosinusitis and bronchiectasis [7]. Situs inversus without dextrocardia has been reported with congenital vascular anomalies including portosystemic shunts (PSS) and azygo

Efficacy of a phospholipid-stabilized sulfur hexafluoride microsphere contrast agent and water for hydrosonography of the upper portion of the gastrointestinal tract in dogs

© 2021, American Veterinary Medical Association. All rights reserved.OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy of a phospholipid-stabilized sulfur hexafluoride microsphere (SHM) contrast agent and water for hydrosonography of the upper portion of the gastrointestinal tract of dogs. ANIMALS 12 healthy adult Beagles. PROCEDURES In a crossover study, each dog was anesthetized and underwent noncon-trast ultrasonography then hydrosonography following administration of tap water (30 mL/kg) without (water method) or with SHM (0.1 mL; SHM method) via an orogastric tube. There were at least 3 days between hydro-sonographic procedures. Wall thickness, wall layer definition, conspicuity of the mucosal-luminal interface, and image quality were evaluated separately in the near and far fields for the gastric cardia, body, and pylorus and de-scending duodenum and compared among the 3 scanning methods. RESULTS Mean wall thickness measurements did not differ significantly between the water and SHM methods at any location except the far-field gastric cardia where the mean wall thickness for the SHM method was less than that for the water method. In general, the SHM method improved wall layer definition and conspicuity of the mucosal-luminal interface of structures in the near field, compared with noncontrast method. The water and SHM methods both resulted in superior image quality relative to the noncontrast method for the near-field gastric cardia, far-field gastric cardia, and far-field duodenum. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated that, for dogs, gastrointestinal hydrosonography by use of the SHM method improved wall layer definition and mucosal conspicuity, particularly in near-field images of the upper portion of the gastrointestinal tract.N

Rapid and conformal coating of polymer resins by airbrushing for continuous and high-speed roll-to-roll nanopatterning: parametric quality controls and extended applications

Abstract We present a facile and scalable coating method based on controlled airbrushing, which is suitable for conformal resin coating in continuous roll-to-roll (R2R) nanoimprint lithography (NIL) process. By controlling the concentration of UV-curable polymeric resin with mixing the volatile solvent and its airbrushing time, the coated resin film thickness can be readily tuned. After R2R NIL using a flexible nanoscale line pattern (nanograting) mold is conducted upon the airbrushed resin film, a large-area uniform nanograting pattern is fabricated with controlled residual layer thickness (RLT) based on the initial film thickness. We investigate the faithful airbrushing condition that can reliably create the uniform thin films as well as various nanopatterns with controlled morphologies. Using more diluted resin and shorter airbrushing time can reduce the RLTs favourably for many applications, yet is apt to induce the nanoscale pores and discontinued lines. We also discuss how to further improve the quality and scalability of resin airbrushing and its potential applications particularly requiring high-speed and conformal coating on highly topographic and flexible surfaces