Ultrasonographic characterization of abdominal organs of baby opossums

Abstract

Abdominal ultrasound is an important resource for diagnosing numerous conditions in veterinary medicine. Describing the ultrasound findings of abdominal organs that are considered normal is important for guiding diagnosis and therapeutic follow-up. There are few studies around abdominal ultrasound in wildlife medicine, such as opossums, which are widely distributed throughout the Americas and are frequently sent to wildlife care centers and yet very little is known about them in terms of ultrasound. The aim of this study was to evaluate the abdominal organs of healthy baby opossums. Thirty eight opossums (19 males and 19 females) weighing between 110 and 180 grams were evaluated. There was no significant difference between the genders; however, there was a difference between the weight classes when measuring the kidneys and the urinary vesicle wall. The average thickness in centimeters of the gastric wall was 0.13 (±0.01), of the gallbladder was 0.05 (±0.01) and of the colon was 0.15 (±0.17). In the subjective assessment, the organ characteristics such as echotexture and echogenicity were similar to those described in the literature and the measurements obtained were specific to the species.