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.