Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 29, 1993 TAG: 9307290153
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Why did the llama have a crooked neck?
Veterinarians at Virginia Tech weren't sure on Wednesday, but they hope to find out soon with the aid of some new technology.
About five weeks ago, Mannequin, a 3-year-old llama from Lexington, began tilting her head to one side, said Kate Savage, one of the doctors at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.
Llamas are pack animals from South America. Savage believes this llama has a vestibular disease - an inner-ear infection or perhaps a tumor.
So on Wednesday, along with a battery of other tests, Mannequin lay down (with the help of a little sedation) on Tech's new Computerized Tomography machine, known as a Cat scan. The equipment gives doctors a clear, inside view to the llama's head, without exploratory surgery.
Technology is revolutionizing not only human medicine, but also medical care for pets.
The transition for such sophisticated equipment from the human to the animal realm used to take years, but is happening more rapidly today, according to Jeffrey Douglas, spokesman for the veterinary college.
"Virtually every imaging technology used on people is now in almost all the veterinary colleges," he said.
By later this week, Savage hopes to know what was wrong with the brown-and-white llama.
"We don't expect to see quite the caseload with this equipment that a [human] hospital does," said Martha Moon, section chief for radiology. "Our clients don't have Blue Cross/Blue Shield."
Technology carries a price tag, just as it does in human medicine.
Animal owners have to pay for the procedure, which varies from about $150 to $250 - less than half what such a procedure would cost a person.
The veterinary college can underwrite some of the cost of the procedure because it is part of its instructional program, Douglas said. But more technological procedures will mean higher costs.
To many, it's worth it and the hospital has done four or five scans a day for the past three weeks since the vet school acquired the equipment.
"As the profession evolves and continues to use these sophisticated medical technologies, the costs are going to rise," Douglas said. But he also predicted the intensity of the human/animal bond will make many families consider these costs quite justifiable.
Before getting this equipment, veterinarians and technicians used a mobile unit owned by Carilion Health Systems for the past several years that would come once or twice a week.
Brain tumors are a common problem in pets, and the Cat scan was extremely useful in diagnosing this problem, Moon said. But the hospital's unit, which was used by hospitals in the area, could only handle small animals.
The college's new equipment can handle animals up to 400 pounds in weight. Mannequin, at 270 pounds, was the largest animal to use the new equipment.
Moon said she's mostly tested dogs and cats since it's been installed.
It's better than an X-ray because it can image continuous, tiny slices. Bones can't obscure the tissues.
Tech also received digital fluoroscopic equipment, which allows doctors to see something of a living X-ray of the animals they treat on a television monitor.
All of the equipment cost about $750,000, and was purchased through a grant from the State Council for Higher Education's equipment trust.
The trust allows universities to acquire major equipment that can't be funded through conventional means.
On Wednesday, a Pomeranian puppy lay on the table as doctors used the digital fluoroscopic equipment to check her trachea. She yelped a little, though the procedure didn't hurt - the lens didn't even touch the puppy. ("That's just how Pomeranian's are," explained one of the technicians.)
The trachea was fine, the doctors said, but the puppy had an enlarged heart, a treatable condition.
Moon said the new equipment will make Tech a better referral hospital. In the past, pet owners have had to send their animals to North Carolina or Tennessee for the same procedure.
"This is better technology," Moon said. "It's faster and the images have better resolution."
Tech hopes someday to get a table for the scanner that would handle up to 1,000 pounds.
by CNB