Interesting Cases

Brain MRI

This image of a dog's head shows a normal brain, but a diagnosis of rhinitis. Rhinitis is an inflammation of the nasal mucous membranes.

The two images to the right show a normal and abnormal brain. The first brain image shows a normal brain with the anatomy labeled. The second brain image is from another patient and shows a dog that had a stroke. The bright signal indicates edema or swelling caused by the stroke.

Back Problems

Like people dogs have back and spine problems caused by bulging discs. In the MRI image above you can see a dog with chronic disc herniation and protrusion causing spinal cord compression.

The MRI image below shows the thoracic spine of a dog suffering from discospondylitis. Discospondylitis is a painful condition caused by inflammation of the disc material between the vertebral bodies and adjacent to the spinal canal. This condition, like many soft tissue pathologies, can be missed on a radiograph. This dog had a full recovery once properly diagnosed and treated.

Foreign Body and Ongoing Infection

In the case below the dog had a foreign body lodged deep within the foot for multiple months. After multiple surgeries the problem remained. It was only after an MRI at our center that the doctor could determine the exact cause and location of the dog's problem. The pictures below represent the before and after pictures of the paw and stick that was surgically removed. The surgeon responsible for removing the foreign body is John J. Haburjak, DVM Dipl ACVS, from Pleasant Hill, CA.

Digestive Problems

This is a cat having an abdominal MRI. This cat was having trouble digesting it food and the MRI was to determine the cause. MRI is excellent for diagnosis of internal abdominal problems.