Liver lobe torsion in cats

The aim of the study is to describe a clinical case of torsion of the right medial lobe of the liver in a cat and to characterize the echographic markers of this pathology. The object of the study was a British Longhair cat, aged 2 years 6 months, admitted to the Pirogov Veterinary Center in Stavropol. Ultrasound was performed on a SIUI Apogee 1100 Omni scanner (Shantou Institute of Ultrasonic Instruments Co., Ltd., Guangdong, China) according to the generally accepted technique using a multi-frequency linear sensor with a frequency of 7.5-12 MHz. The cause of torsion of the liver lobe, as in a number of other described cases, has not been established. The clinical manifestation and laboratory blood test results for torsion of the liver lobe are described. This is the first clinical case in which the final diagnosis in cats was made using ultrasound. Echographic markers of complete torsion of the liver lobe include an increase in the size of the affected lobe, its heterogeneity, the presence of symmetrical thinning of the lobe, increased echogenicity of adipose tissue along the periphery of the torsed lobe, disturbances of lobar blood flow during Dopplerography in the form of the presence of blood flow before the torsion area and the absence of it after the torsion area, the presence of free fluid in the abdominal cavity with a finely dispersed diffuse homogeneous suspension corresponding to hemoabdomen, as well as the presence of an ultrasound pattern of "swirl" resulting from twisting of the liver parenchyma around its axis. The combination of the described echographic manifestations of torsion of the liver lobe will allow visual diagnostics specialists to obtain the necessary information to establish the correct diagnosis, saving time, which is especially important in this urgent pathology.