Barking up the wrong tree: Radiographic manifestations of disease elsewhere in the body (Proceedings)

This lecture is a case-based presentation of subtleties noted on radiographs that indicate a problem occurring on some other area of anatomy not directly visible on the radiographs. The lecture is meant to be interactive and strives for a holistic approach to diagnostics that incorporates patient history, physical exam findings, and radiographic findings.

The physical exam generally steers a clinician's decision for which anatomic area (thorax, abdomen, femur, etc.) is diseased. Sometimes the owner's chief complaint or the physical exam findings are misleading or represent an atypical manifestation of a disease process. Other times, multiple disease processes are occurring in unison. Determining what started a chain of events can be a diagnostic challenge. A disease process can occasionally manifest itself more obviously in a distant part of the body instead of the initial area of concern. Examples of this include metastatic lymph node enlargement and paraneoplastic processes.

Luckily, radiographs have the solution to all of life's problems (can you tell I am a radiologist?). The radiographic studies presented are actual cases from the Animal Medical Center and were excellent learning experiences for everyone involved (radiologist, criticalist, intern, etc). The conclusion of this lecture focuses on how much fun it can be to solve diagnostically challenging cases as a team.