Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine differences in normal feline pituitary dimensions in brachycephalic and mesocephalic cats as a basis for establishing cryohypophysectomy in cats. Methods Measurements were performed on sagittal T2-weighted and transverse post-gadolinium T1-weighted or T1 3D fast field echo-weighted MRI images. A total of 32 brachycephalic and 27 mesocephalic cats were examined. Inter-observer reproducibility was assessed by t-test and Bland-Altman analysis. Results The cats were 0.6-15.9 years of age with a body weight range of 1.84-6.60 kg. For brachycephalic cats, the mean pituitary gland sagittal height was 2.15 ± 0.15 mm, pituitary gland transverse height was 2.42 ± 0.21 mm, pituitary gland transverse width was 4.44 ± 0.27 mm and pituitary gland sagittal length was 3.14 ± 0.30 mm. In mesocephalic cats, the pituitary gland dimensions were 2.94 ± 0.16 mm, 3.09 ± 0.26 mm, 4.73 ± 0.31 mm and 4.88 ± 0.30 mm for pituitary gland sagittal height, transverse height, transverse width and sagittal length, respectively. There was a highly significant correlation between brachycephalic and mesocephalic cats and pituitary gland height and length ( P <0.0001), respectively. Sex also had an effect on pituitary gland measurements. Neutering status had no significant effect on hypophyseal measurements. Age had a significant influence on pituitary gland height, width and length in the brachycephalic population. Inter-observer reproducibility was good to excellent. Conclusions and relevance The different pituitary measurements in brachycephalic and mesocephalic cats has to be considered if surgery comes into question. There are ranges in pituitary gland sizes, even among the mesocephalic cat population. Thus, exact measuring of the pituitary gland is crucial before any surgical intervention.

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Gastrocnemius musculotendinopathy is a potential cause of chronic hindlimb lameness in medium to large breed dogs. A history of athletic activity must not necessarily be present. Magnetic resonance imaging shows signal changes and uptake of contrast agent in the region of the origin of the gastrocnemius muscle. A combination of T1 pre- and post-contrast administration and T2 weighted sequences completed by a fat-suppressed sequence in the sagittal plane are well-suited for diagnosis. Conservative treatment generally results in return to normal function.

In selected TSE sequences, MRI allows evaluation of critical intra-articular structures after titanium TPLO plate implantation. Further investigations with confirmed stifle pathologies in dogs are required, to evaluate the accuracy of MRI after TPLO in clinical cases in this context.

Objective Computed tomography (CT) is used complementarily to radiography for the evaluation of medial coronoid disease (MCD). We hypothesized that a slice thickness > 2 mm would significantly affect the image quality and detection of fragmentation of the medial coronoid process. This study aimed to assess CT features indicating direct and indirect evidence of MCD in 168 CT studies with slice thicknesses of 1-, 2- and 3 mm. Materials and Methods The CT studies were blinded in terms of CT slice thickness and patient data and randomly assessed by two independent observers. All dogs underwent arthroscopic evaluation of the elbow joints. Both observers were unaware of the arthroscopic findings. Results Notably, blurring of the bone contour (p = 0.0001) was significantly influenced by slice thickness; here, a 1-mm thickness yielded a predominantly sharp and well-defined bone contour (observer 1, 91%; observer 2, 79%), whereas 2- (observer 1, 39.3%; observer 2, 56.3%) and especially 3-mm slice thicknesses yielded blurred margins with significantly reduced sharpness (observer 1, 0%; observer 2, 12.5%). The 1-mm slice thickness also yielded the highest fragment detection rate (observer 1, 55.4%; observer 2, 60.4%). Furthermore, the detection of fragment positions and of single fragments and fissures differed substantially with slice thickness. Clinical Relevance The findings of this study support the hypothesis that a CT slice thickness of ≥ 2 mm significantly affects fragment detection. In conclusion, a CT slice thickness of at least 1 mm is recommended for the assessment of MCD of the canine elbow.