Ultrasound Examination in Reptiles: Restraint, Positionning, Artifacts and Patient Examination

INTRODUCTION Two dimensional (2-D) ultrasonography is a particularly well-adapted tool for exploring soft tissue in reptiles (liver, kidney, bladder, genital system, heart and large blood vessels at the base of the heart, as well as the digestive tract) 4,5,6,8,9,10,12,13,14,15. Unlike radiography, it can differentiate various soft tissue structures and provide information regarding organ location and pathologic changes. It is non-invasive, painless, without any reported adverse side effect, and does not expose the patient or the staff to ionizing radiations. It provides both a static and a dynamic cross-sectional image of the organ under exploration and can be an excellent adjunct to radiography in these animals4. Moreover, ultrasonography allows carrying out ultrasound-guided biopsies, without the need for surgical laparotomy, and it can also be used for sex determination in species in which there is no sexual dimorphism 4,5,8,9,13. In reptiles, no distinction is made between "thoracic ultrasonography" and "abdominal ultrasonography" as these animals have only one single general cavity, called coelomic cavity or thoraco-abdominal cavity. Like other medical imaging modalities, ultrasonography requires a good knowledge of the internal organ topographical anatomy of the animals concerned (Figures 1,2,3).