Clinical ultrasonography in loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta): imaging of pathological features

Abstract

Ultrasound scans were used to image pathological features in sea turtles. Scans were carried out in 19 loggerhead sea turtles, weighing from 2 to 21 kg, during the course of clinical examinations using 3.5 and 7.5 MHz sector transducers. The examination was performed after placing turtles in dorsal recumbency. Turtles were manually restrained and, in order to find the most suitable acoustic windows, were held down either by their heads (left and right cervicobrachial windows), front flippers (left and right axillary windows) or back flippers (left and right prefemoral and postfemoral windows). The right and left cervicobrachial windows allowed visualisation of the liver and gallbladder; the stomach was localised through the left prefemoral acoustic window; the intestinal loops were observed through the left and right prefemoral acoustic windows; the bladder was identified through both prefemoral acoustic windows. The pathological findings were as follows: idiopathic ileus, an intestinal linear foreign body and smooth muscle hypertrophy, presence of calculi and sediment in the gallbladder. These results highlight the importance of ultrasound examination along with clinical examination in sea turtles for the evaluation of coelomic pathologies.

Foreign Body Gastrotomy in an Adult Captive Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus

“…Removal of foreign bodies from a cheetah has not been reported previously in Namibia. It is clear that more and more foreign bodies are being retrieved from livestock, pets, wild birds, marine animals as well as wildlife by veterinarians (Boag et al, 2005;De Majo et al, 2016;Hayes, 2009;Hobday et al, 2014;Hoefer and Levitan, 2013;Kassem et al, 2014;Mushonga et al, 2015;Papazoglou et al, 2010;Tyrrell and Beck, 2006). This might be a result of environmental pollution by plastics as has been reported by Mushonga et al (2015).…”

“…According to several authors (Boag et al, 2005;Hayes, 2009;Hoefer and Levitan, 2013) foreign body ingestion occurs commonly in pets and the problem is on the increase (Cornell and Koenig, 2015). The problem is also now increasingly being reported in wild animals (Eckermann-Ross, 2014;Omar, 2014;Squarre et al, 2015), parrots (Hoefer and Levitan, 2013), aquatic (Mousa et al, 2014) as well as marine animals (De Majo et al, 2016;Williams et al, 2013). It is normal for ingested foreign bodies to perforate the wall of the gastrointestinal tract and end up causing granulomatous lesions in the abdomen (Hoefer and Levitan, 2013;Papazoglou et al, 2010).…”

“…Hartman et al (2015) have recently reported a thorn induced pyogranulomatous lesion in the abdomen of a cheetah. It has been shown by previous workers that pollution of the environment with items such as litter, plastics and old toys has been associated with increased ingestion of these indigestible materials by livestock (Mushonga et al, 2015), pets (Boag et al, 2005;Hayes, 2009;Hobday et al, 2014;Papazoglou et al, 2010;Tyrrell and Beck, 2006) birds (Hoefer and Levitan, 2013) and even marine animals (De Majo et al, 2016). Other materials that have been recovered from animals during surgery, at the abattoir or during post mortem examination include clothing, strings, toys, leashes, bones, sticks, metal pieces (Fazio, 2006) and fishing hooks (De Majo et al, 2016).…”

Ocular ultrasonography of sea turtles

“…Several ultrasonographic studies have been performed on sea turtles to evaluate the coelomic cavity [ 25 ], but to the authors’ knowledge, there are no reports on ophthalmic echobiometry in these species. However, the increasing number of sea turtles in conservation centres [ 14 ], and considering studies on ophthalmic diseases in these species [ 10 , 12 – 15 ], there is rising concern among institutions and staff about the conservation of vision in these animals, to promote quality of life and allow for the possibility of reintroduction into a free living environment.…”

Deniz Kaplumbağaları (Caretta caretta ve Chelenoidas mydas) Gözlerinin Ultrasonografik İncelenmesi

“…Both juvenile and adult sea turtles forage in these rich shallow local habitats [1][2][3] . These animals are threatened and are in danger of extinction through the destruction of nesting sites, the pollution of the seas, from fish-hooks and other foreign bodies, including plastic bags, from propeller injuries and accidents with fishermen or boats [3][4][5][6] . Anatomical knowledge of the sea turtle using diagnostic imaging techniques can help to improve their preservation and their treatment following injury [7][8][9] .…”