Advanced Imaging in the Feline Patient. When to Really Consider CT and MRI

SUMMARY

The availability of computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has increased over the last years. However, difficulty to determine when to recommend these imaging techniques and, almost as important, difficulty to determine when to recommend one technique rather than the other, is still a controverted issue in general and specialized practices. These are very useful techniques and this lecture will try to prove, once again, its clinical usefulness, in spite of their cost. Oncology, neurology and cardiorespiratory have benefited from these techniques, which will be used in clinical cases to prove it.

THE AIM OF THE LECTURE

• Overview of CT and MRI use

• Historical view of the use of these techniques

• Technical issues to be considered

• Diagnostic issues to be considered

OVERVIEW OF CT AND MRI USE

It is relatively common to ask the radiologist to discuss the use of advanced techniques and it is difficult to understand how to complement a general description of their use, maybe more useful when these techniques are not available or when additional information is needed, with a more detailed description of technical and diagnostic items that will be useful for those who have already some experience or even access to these techniques in their practices.

The essential questions are the following: When to recommend the use of these techniques? What technique should be recommended? 
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