Case study: Ultrasound – Large tumour of the spleen
Tarka, a 9 year old male Cocker Spaniel, had been acutely lethargic a week previously, and had been unwilling to climb the stairs at home. He seemed to get better over the next couple of days, but then things worsened again and now he did not want to eat his food, and preferred to just lie in his bed all day.
Tarka was taken to his usual veterinary surgeon. A blood test showed that he was anaemic, and radiographs (X-rays) showed that he had a large mass within his abdomen. Tarka's vet referred him to one Willows' Soft Tissue Surgical Specialists for further investigation and treatment.
A member of our Specialist Diagnostic Imaging team performed an abdominal ultrasound scan, which confirmed that the mass seen on the radiographs was attached to Tarka’s spleen, as well as finding evidence that the mass had recently bled (causing the anaemia).
Tarka was anaesthetised and taken into one of our six operating theatres where the soft tissue surgeon removed the spleen, including the tumour within it. Tarka made a good recovery from the surgery and analysis of the spleen under the microscope (histopathology) gave us the good news that the tumour was benign. Removal had proved to be curative.
This ultrasound image of Tarka’s spleen shows a large mass, the extent of which is marked out by the blue arrows. The surrounding normal spleen is the darker tissue marked out by the white arrows.
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