Case Study: Ultrasound – Jaundice secondary to pancreatitis
Poppy, a 2 year old female domestic cat, had been less interested in her food over the previous two to three weeks, but was otherwise active as normal. However, two days ago her owners had noticed that her eyes, skin and gums had turned yellow. Poppy was taken to her veterinary surgeons who confirmed that she was jaundiced. Poppy's vets referred her to one of Willows' Internal Medicine Specialists for further investigation and management.
An ultrasound examination of Poppy's abdomen revealed that her pancreas (an organ near the liver that helps digestion and produces insulin) was thickened and inflamed, and that the resulting swelling had blocked her bile duct, so that the bile coming from the liver could not flow from the gall bladder into her intestines. This in turn had resulted in the bile pigments building up in her system, causing the yellow colouration that had developed a few days beforehand.
Poppy was put onto treatment and the jaundice improved once the bout of pancreatitis had settled down. At her next follow-up consultation with the Medicine Specialist, Poppy was found to be doing very well.
This ultrasound image shows Poppy’s distended common bile duct (the black structure indicated by the blue arrow). The red/yellow area highlights blood flowing in a vessel next to the bile duct. This distension of the bile duct was caused by a blockage of the duct further towards the intestines by inflammation and swelling of the pancreas.
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