b'A Guide to Equine Diagnostic Imagingfall or trailer accident and pelvic fracture is suspected, we have difficulty gettingWhats This Going to Cost?radiographs, but we can use ultrasound to evaluate the bone surface and see if aSome imaging modalities are more expensive than others, and prices vary widely be-fracture is visible. tween practices and regions. Digital X rays probably run between $50 and $60 per view for Veterinarians can also use the ultra- a particular site, Mark Reilly, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, founder of South Shore Equine Clinic and Di-sound probe to guide needle placement,agnostic Center, in Plympton, Massachusetts, says of his practice. We rarely take less than which helps make administering thera- two views and often take six to eight views. If you are doing prepurchase exams or advanced peutic agents more accurate.imaging with multiple sites, sometimes these are packaged. In the past 20 years ultrasound hasHe says an ultrasound typically costs a few hundred dollars. In our area, it runs around undergone dramatic digitization, evolu- $300, and this is generally based on the technology and the price to purchase it, he says. tion, and improvement. Now we haveBone scans can run anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500 once you factor in hospitalization, extremely high-detail probes with excel- sedation, catheterization, and more, he says.lent resolution so we can see differentCT usually requires general anesthesia, if the horse is lying down, and will run about thingsand very small thingsvery$2,000, Reilly says. If they can do it standing it will probably be less than $1,000maybe clearly, says Puchalski.about $700 or $800 and include the hospitalization. A standing MRI will be about $2,200, As a result, veterinarians are learningwhich includes the interpretation. Ive seen anesthetized MRI costing $2,500 to $2,700 or to use ultrasound to look at eye problems,more.Heather Smith Thomaswounds, masses, and more, says Reilly.Magnetic Resonance Imaging Puchalski. For humans, MRI is consid- images provide high detail and cross- With MRI, a magnetic field andered a gold standard for the diagnosissectional slices of the tissue. We can see computer-generated radiofrequencyof musculoskeletal problems because itslices through the bone, tendons, andwaves create detailed images. Thiswill image bone, soft tissue, and fluidligaments, rather than just looking at the takes very specialized equipment, says(such as synovial fluid in a joint). Thesewhole bone.(MRI) completely changed our under-standing of navicular disease, she says, T H EN E WS T A N D A R DO FC A R E referring to cases of heel pain related to the navicular bone and its associated IN EQUINE IMAGING IS HERE structures.Adds Reilly, MRI has revolution-ized diagnostics and treatment of foot Safe.Simple.Standing CT. lameness because we can see inside the hoof, with detail, something that is dif-ficult to impossible with other imaging modalities. Scans can be done standing, with the horse sedated, or lying down, with the horse anesthetized. The disadvantage to general anesthesia is risk for the horse, which has nothing to do with the MRI, but this is unappealing to many horse owners, especially for checking a mild lameness, she says.Created by equine vetsAn MRIs magnet strength can be either for equine vets. low-field or high-field. All standing MRI units are low-field, so those images have Equina by Asto CT o\x0fers highless detail than high-field MRI and dont quality,3Dvolumetricdiagnosticimage cartilage as well, says Puchalski. imagingspecicallydesignedtoVeterinarians can only perform stand-meet the diverse needs of equineing MRI on horses lower limbs, which patients. With low radiation doseis where the vast majority of lamenesses andsimplepositioningtoscanoccur, she says.limb pairs, head and neck, EquinaFor a brain problem or something else imagesstandingsedatedequineregarding the head, the only option would patients in seconds with ease. be to perform the study with the horse ly-ing down and under anesthesia, she says.www.AstoCT.com Horse owners should weigh the pros24 February 2020The Horse|TheHorse.comDiagnosticImaging.indd 24 1/3/20 10:16 AM'