ABSTRACT. The usefulness of magnetic resonance (MR) is already established, but it has a disadvantage of requiring a long scanning time. A short-time examination is more or less needed so as to be more practical in veterinary clinics. A protocol of the short-time MR examination was devised based on parameters determined, and validity of the protocol was assessed through the diagnosis of clinical cases with intervertebral disc diseases. With this protocol, it was possible to complete an MR examination for the spine within 15 min. The MR images and myelographic findings were correlated well in this study, suggesting the short-time protocol of MR examination can be used in the clinical diagnosis of spinal diseases.

ABSTRACT. The image processing procedure has become widely applied as a visual aid in imaging diagnosis. The subtraction image of MRI obtained by digitally subtracting an unenhanced image from a contrast-enhanced image, depicted a discrete distribution of the contrast agent. Subtraction images in the clinical cases were compared. The subtraction image in a case of chondroma demonstrated a relatively uniform distribution of a contrast agent, with a well delineated neoplastic lesion. The subtraction image in a case of squamous cell carcinoma, the contrast agent was distributed heterogeneously in the carcinoma and well permeated into the muscle. Different patterns of subtraction image were obtained in the clinical cases of chondroma and squamous cell carcinoma in this study. The findings suggest the potential usefulness of the subtraction image for diagnosing the degree of malignancy. -KEY WORDS: contrast agent, MRI, subtraction image.

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SUMMARYA 7-year-old female Toy Poodle weighing 2 .1 kg showed joint swelling and angular deformity with pain and lameness. Radiography revealed luxation with severe destruction of joints and periarticular soft tissue swelling. Hyperglobulinemia with increased levels of alpha2 , beta and gammaglobulin fractions was observed. After administrating of bucillamine, an immunomodulator , clinical signs of affected joints were significantly improved in accordance with decreasing gamma globulin , suggesting that immunologic mechanism might be involved in this case of canine rheumatoid arthritis .