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Gastrointestinal tract:
The terminal part of the oesophagus in the thoracic cavity often contained varying degrees of focal gas accumulations. The oesophagus could not be seen intra-abdominal, but entered the diaphragm in a central position. The stomach was mainly positioned in the left abdomen, without direct contact with the diaphragm. The pylorus was fairly centrally positioned and only extended slightly to the right of the midline. No gastric folds were visible. The stomach often contained fluid, which on post-contrast images could be clearly distinguished from the enhanced wall. The duodenum could only occasionally be seen exiting the stomach. The small intestine was short and contained only a small amount of gas, contrary to the large intestine. The cecum contained a mottled gas-ingesta mixture giving it an almost honeycomb-appearance and could consistently be identified. It was prominent and the base was in the craniodorsal abdomen, coursing caudoventrally along the right abdominal wall with fairly homogeneous diameter. The apex remained prominent and only narrowed to about half its diameter. It coursed cranially and medially. The remaining part of the large intestine presented as an inverted U with short ascending, transverse and descending colon. The descending colon was laterally and slightly ventrally to the left kidney. The ascending colon was ventromedially to the right kidney. The large intestine contained fecal balls or gas. The walls of the gastrointestinal tract enhanced markedly on post-contrast.
Urinary tract:
The right kidney was in direct contact with the liver, which hampered clear outline of its cranial margin. Both kidneys were of similar size, oval-shaped and positioned between L1-L3. The right kidney was positioned cranially to the left kidney in 3/8 animals (Fig. 3) and caudally in 5/8 animals. Sometimes fat could be seen as eccentric hypodensity. The bladder was often empty and cranial to the pelvic inlet. Ureters could be seen using the modified inner ear setting at WL = 50 HU and WW = 600 HU, and not very clearly on the abdominal one (Fig. 4). They were more easily visible on post-contrast studies (Fig. 5) and started fairly centrally ventral to the spine and coursing laterally further caudally.
Adrenals:
The adrenals were prominent in the common marmoset. The right adrenal was more difficult to appreciate on pre-contrast images due to its close proximity to other soft tissue density tissues such as the liver and right kidney. The left adrenal was easily detectable; however contrast facilitated easier detection of both and cranial demarcation of the right. No corticomedullary distinction was visible on any images. The adrenals were fairly isodense on pre-contrast images, and took contrast up strongly immediately, however to a lesser degree than the kidneys (hypodense to kidneys).
Liver and gallbladder:
The right side of the liver was markedly more prominent than the left (Fig. 3). No individual fissures between liver lobes could be identified. On post-contrast images, the liver parenchyma enhanced markedly accentuating hepatic vasculature. The gallbladder wall did not take up contrast. Since the lumen of the gallbladder did not take up contrast, it became easier visible on post-contrast images as relative hypodense structure in relationship to the hyperdense liver parenchyma. The gall bladder was surrounded by liver tissue and positioned on the right. The liver was hyperdense compared to the kidneys on pre-contrast images, but became fairly isodense on post-contrast images.
The pancreas and prostate could not be identified. Abdominal lymph nodes could only occasionally and inconsistently be seen after contrast-medium application.
1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1. Hypothesis
1.2. Objectives
1.3. Benefits of the study
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Marmosets
2.2. Computed tomography of the thorax
2.3. Computed tomography of the abdomen
3. COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC THORACIC ANATOMY IN EIGHT CLINICALLY NORMAL COMMON MARMOSETS (Callithrix jacchus)
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Materials and methods
3.3. Results
3.4. Discussion
3.5. Conclusion
3.6. References
3.7. Tables
3.8. Figures
4. COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY OF THE ABDOMEN IN EIGHT CLINICALLY NORMAL COMMON MARMOSETS (Callithrix jacchus)
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Materials and methods
4.3. Results
4.4. Discussion
4.5. Conclusion
4.6. References
4.7. Tables
4.8. Figures
5. ABDOMINAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC ATLAS IN CLINICALLY NORMAL COMMON MARMOSETS (Callithrix jacchus) AND COMPARISON OF COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY TO OTHER IMAGING MODALITIES
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Materials and methods
5.3. Results
5.4. Discussion
5.5. Conclusion
5.6. References
5.7. Figures
6. GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
