Guide to Ultrasound Examination of the Bovine Carpus

The carpus in cattle is frequently affected by a number of different diseases. Al-though studies of various regions of interest as well as pathological cases have been published (Kofler 1995, 2000), a complete ultrasonographic survey of the carpal re-gion in cattle is lacking. The aim of this study was therefore to create a standardised ultrasonographic examination procedure of the carpal region based on the anatomi-cal structures.

Material and Methods
All examinations were carried out with a real-time ultrasound unit Sonoline Prima (Siemens), equipped with a 5/7,5-MHz multi-frequency linear transducer. For a better imaging of surface-near structures, Aquaflex®-Gel-Pads (Parker Laboratories, Inc., NJ) were used. Initially, 8 isolated cadaver specimens were prepared to show the topographic anat-omy, and directly scanned to recognize the typical ultrasonographic appearance. Later in 13 cadaver limbs, frozen sections of the carpus were made, prepared and photographed ...