Abstract
BackgroundGoats are increasingly being kept as companion animals, thus their owners expect advanced medical care, including modern diagnostic imaging. Computed tomography (CT) is now widely used in veterinary medicine, in both clinical practice and for scientific purposes. So far, the CT appearance of various body parts has been described in goats, but reports on thyroid gland CT are still lacking. The thyroid gland in goats may become enlarged due to dietary, genetic or neoplastic disorders. CT examination, as in other animals and humans, could aid in the diagnosis of thyroid diseases in goats and could be used for research purposes. The aim of the study was to present the CT characteristics of the normal caprine thyroid gland, in particular its dimensions, volume and density.ResultsFifty-seven goats were included in the study. None of the animals had clinical, CT, post-mortem or histopathologic abnormalities in the thyroid gland. CT features of the thyroid gland were determined, such as dimensions, volume, density, location and shape. The presence of the thyroid isthmus and ectopic thyroid tissue was also assessed. The gland was visible in every animal as two homogenous, highly attenuating, well-circumscribed lobes located in the most cranial part of the trachea. The mean dimensions of the thyroid lobe were 30.3 × 12.7 × 6.7 mm, the mean density was 80.9 Hounsfield Units (HU) and the mean volume was 1.32 cm3 or 1.39 cm3, depending on the method used. Also, the internal parathyroid glands were visible in some animals.ConclusionsFor the first time, the normal CT appearance of the thyroid gland has been presented. CT clearly shows the thyroid gland in goats and therefore can be used in clinical practice and for research. The results of the current study may serve as a radiological guideline for practitioners and may be the basis for further CT studies on normal and diseased caprine thyroid glands.
Highlights
Goats are increasingly being kept as companion animals, their owners expect advanced medi‐ cal care, including modern diagnostic imaging
The Computed tomography (CT) examination showed that the thyroid gland was clearly visible in all of the goats as two separate hyperdense lobes located on the lateral surfaces of the cranial part of the trachea
It may be helpful for the clinicians describing thyroid CT scans and it complements the knowledge about CT characteristics of the thyroid gland in another animal species
Summary
Goats are increasingly being kept as companion animals, their owners expect advanced medi‐ cal care, including modern diagnostic imaging. The CT appearance of various body parts has been described in goats, but reports on thyroid gland CT are still lacking. CT examination, as in other animals and humans, could aid in the diag‐ nosis of thyroid diseases in goats and could be used for research purposes. The aim of the study was to present the CT characteristics of the normal caprine thyroid gland, in particular its dimensions, volume and density. Goats are increasingly being kept as companion animals and are taken great care of by their owners, there is a rising need for diagnostic imaging examinations in this species, including CT. CT was helpful in diagnosing diseases such as leukoencephalomyelitis, a giant cell tumor of the mandible, a brain abscess and sinusitis [9,10,11,12]
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