Ultrasound - Pathology
Ultrasounds are routinely performed in live stranded, rehabilitation and captive-maintained cetaceans and pinnipeds as part of their health assessment
Renal gas and calculi in dolphins
Renal calculi in sea lions
Hepatic lipidosis
Granulomatous pneumonia
Renal gas has recently been described without apparent clinical significance in mass-stranded dolphins.
Urinary calculi are seen with some frequency among captive dolphins and sporadically in free -ranging pinnipeds.
Hepatic lipidosis, characterized by a hyperechogenic liver that is hyperattenuating, is shown and was diagnosed in a stranded and malnourished pilot whale.
Ultrasound can be very useful for evaluating the pleural space and peripheral lung. Lung lesions extending to the visceral pleura can often be identified.