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56 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, April 22, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend January 29, 2004 Veterinarian Russell Fugazzicq, right, demonstrates an ultrasound device used to examine the internal organs of his patients. Holding the 2-year-old Rottweiler patient named Zorra is assistant Marta Reischman. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Ultrasound improves veterinarians’ diagnoses Now they can see inside the pet and have a better idea whether treatment will help By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune What’s good for humans can also be good for their pets. The advent of ultrasound to "look" inside animals’ bodies in real time has vastly improved veterinarians’ ability to diagnose tumors, gallstones, parasites and other conditions, instead of doing surgery to find out what’s going on — or prescribing drugs and waiting to see what happens The $50,000 to $60,000 machines allow vets to place a probe against the skin of animals, mostly dogs, and move it around as they watch internal organs on a computer monitor. They can probe any organ — liver, heart, spleen, kidney — or with a mini-camera called a laparoscope, go into the digestive tract from either end. The ultrasound image is produced by high-pitched sound waves, which bounce off all parts on the organs, internal and external, showing a three-dimensional moving shape — even showing heartworms, said Dr. John Bachman of Siskiyou Veterinary Hospital in Medford. "You can identify the exact location of masses or growths in spleen, liver, intestinal tract or wherever, and it’s much easier to do than when you have the animal open in surgery," said Bachman. "You can guide yourself to take a sample of tissue or fluid, too." Advertisement When viewing the heart, veterinarians can trace a section of the heart and tell the computer to turn it 90 degrees so they can use ultrasound to present a picture of the heart wall, revealing the thickness and health of it, said Dr. Russell Fugazzi of Orchard Hill Veterinary Clinic. This is especially useful on dogs, who, because of better diet and treatment and more indoor living, are living longer now and contracting mitral valvular disease, while cats are getting hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, he said. Both are about the heart walls becoming less flexible and less able to pump blood. Ultrasound, which costs $185 a session, is often helpful in letting pet owners see that a coming litter is all alive and moving — and to know when their animal is at the end of the road and probably suffering, Fugazzi said. "We had a dog in here last week with fluid buildup in her chest. In the old days it might have been a biopsy or medicines and rest and see what happens," he said. "Now, we were able to put her on ultrasound and find a golf ball-sized lump in her thorax and also the intestines and the owner was able to make the decision to put her down." The machines are in use by about half the veterinarians in the valley, Bachman said, with the other half often sending them referrals. "It may cost a lot for the procedure," said Fugazzi, "but it’s a lot better to spend the $185 and really know what’s happening to your dog or cat than to wonder and maybe have them be in pain." John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times