Sectional anatomic and tomographic study of the feline abdominal cavity for obtaining a three-dimensional vascular model.

backgroundUnlike dogs, feline abdominal studies are rare. Note that anatomical estudies in felines are scarce and almost unique using feline cadaver by means of sectional anatomy and computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

methodsA live pet cat and two cat cadavers were used in this study. Cat cadavers were injected with colored latex to show well-differentiated vascular structures and serial sections of cat abdomen were then provided. Computed tomography was performed by injecting an iodinated contrast medium through the cephalic vein of a live cat immediately before scanning. The CT images showed the arterial and venous vascular formations hyper-attenuated with two tomographic windows. The correlation between anatomical sections and their CTs was studied to identify vascular and and visceral structures.

resultsHyper-attenuated vascular structures with the contrast medium were identified and marked along their path in the series of Dicom images with the Amira program. In this approach, sequentially and semiautomatically, vascular volumetric reconstruction was obtained without visceral formations. With the OsiriX program, volumetric reconstruction was automatic and maintained the fidelity of all visceral and vascular formations.

conclusionWe conclude that these improved prototypes could be used in veterinary clinics as normal vascular models and as a basis for obtaining future 3D models of vascular anomalies such as portosystemic shunts.