Comparison of the navicular region of newborn foals and adult horses by magnetic resonance imaging.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was tested for evaluation of the soft tissue structures of the equine digit in 16 limbs, derived from three adult warmblood horses and two newborn warmblood foals. The following measuring sequences were used in sagittal, transversal and coronal planes: spin echo, gradient echo, inversion recovery. The images were made with a 1.5 Tesla Siemens scanner in a CP-Helmholtz circular coil. To compare the visualization of the same tissue structures in adult and in newborn cases the limbs were imaged with the routinely used MRI sequences that are used for mature tissues. In newborn foals the bursa podotrochlearis could not be determined with the used sequences. For both the adult and newborn limbs the most visualization of the same tissue structures including the fluid spaces and growth plates were taken by the inversion recovery sequence. T2 sequence was very informative in adult cases but moderately in newborn foals.

[Ultrasonographic examination of the hip joint region and bony pelvis in cattle]. / Die sonographische Darstellung der Hüftgelenkregion und des knöchernen Beckens beim Rind.

Transcutaneous and transrectal ultrasonographic examination of the hip joint region and the pelvis was carried out in 7 cadavers, transcutaneous ultrasonography in 17 healthy young and adult cattle, and transrectal sonography was performed in 12 healthy cows in order to study the normal ultrasonographic appearance of these regions. 7.5 MHz linear-, 5.0 MHz and 3.5 MHz convex transducers and a 7.5 MHz rectal probe were used. The bone surfaces of the greater trochanter, the femoral neck and head, the acetabulum and the other pelvic bones were visualised as hyperechoic contours. The coxofemoral joint space was identified in all cadavers and live cattle. The joint pouch could not be visualised, neither in cadavers nor in live cattle. After experimental filling of the coxofemoral joint pouch by injection of 35-45 ml eosin-solution it appeared as a large anechoic zone between the articular surface and the echogenic joint capsule. The inner contours of the pelvic girdle, both iliosacral joint spaces, the abdominal aorta and the external iliac arteries were depicted clearly by transrectal ultrasonography. The practical application of diagnostic ultrasound in these regions is demonstrated in clinical patients suffering from a septic coxarthritis and a sequestration of a part of the tuber coxae following an open fracture. These results serve as reference data for ultrasonographic investigation of disorders of the hip joint and the pelvic region in cattle.