Ultrasound-guided retrobulbar nerve block in donkey cadavers.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and describe an acoustic window to access and inject the retrobulbar region in donkey cadavers. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cadaveric experimental study. ANIMALS: A total of 14 donkey cadaver heads. METHODS: Ultrasound landmarks for retrobulbar injection were identified by dissection of two cadavers. Ultrasound-guided retrobulbar injection of 3, 6 and 9 mL of contrast-lidocaine mixture (1:1) were evaluated using computed tomography (CT) in 12 cadavers for needle position and spread of injectate into the extraocular muscle cone. RESULTS: Real-time visualization of needle, extraocular muscle cone and optic nerve enabled successful intraconal instillation of injectate, as documented on CT images. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Ultrasound-guided retrobulbar injections in cadaver donkeys provided adequate infiltration of the intraconal space.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the normal dromedary camel tarsus.

BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most versatile and informative imaging modality for the diagnosis of locomotor injuries in many animal species; however, veterinary literature describing the MRI of the dromedary camel tarsus is lacking. Our purpose was to describe and compare the MRI images of twelve cadaveric tarsi, examined in a 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner, with their corresponding anatomical gross sections. Turbo spin-echo (TSE) T1-weighted (T1), T2-weighted (T2), proton density-weighted (PD), and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences were obtained in 3 planes. Tarsi were sectioned in sagittal, dorsal, and transverse planes. MRI images from different sequences and planes were described and compared with the anatomical sections. RESULTS: The soft and osseous tissues of the dromedary camel tarsus could be clearly defined on MRI images and corresponded extensively with the gross anatomic sections. The obtained MRI images enabled comprehensive assessment of the anatomic relationships among the osseous and soft tissues of the camel tarsus. Several structure were evaluated that cannot be imaged using radiography or ultrasonography, including the transverse inter-tarsal ligaments, the talocalcaneal ligament, the short dorsal ligament, branches of the short medial and lateral collateral ligaments and the tarsometatarsal ligaments. Specific anatomical features regarding the dromedary camel tarsus were identified, including the fused second and third tarsal bone, an additional bundle of the short medial collateral ligament connecting the talus and metatarsus and the medial and lateral limbs of the long plantar ligament. CONCLUSIONS: MRI images provided a thorough evaluation of the normal dromedary camel tarsus. Information provided in the current study is expected to serve as a basis for interpretation in clinical situations.

Maxillary neoplasms in four dromedary camels.

Four camels (Camelus dromedarius) presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at King Faisal University with maxillary masses. On radiographs, the masses were multicystic and expanded the maxillary bone. The tumors were diagnosed by histopathologic examination as conventional ameloblastoma, two cases as intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma, and central odontogenic fibroma with ossification. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of ameloblastoma in a camel, the first detailed description of maxillary squamous cell carcinoma in camels, and the first report of central odontogenic fibroma in any animal species.