CONTRAST‐ENHANCED ULTRASONOGRAPHY OF THE SMALL BOWEL IN HEALTHY CATS

We characterized the pattern of ultrasonographic contrast enhancement of the small intestinal wall using a commercial contrast medium (Sonovue^®) in 10 healthy awake cats. Subjectively, a rapid intense enhancement of the serosal and submucosal layers was followed by gradual enhancement of the entire wall section during the early phase. At peak enhancement, there was a subjective loss of demarcation between intestinal wall layers. In the late phase, there was a gradual wash out of signal from the intestinal wall. Submucosal wash out occurred last. Time‐intensity curves were generated for selected regions in the intestinal wall and multiple perfusion parameters were calculated for each cat. Perfusion parameters included arrival time (7.64 ± 2.23 s), baseline intensity (1.04 ± 0.04 a.u.), time to peak from injection (10.74 ± 2.08 s), time to peak from initial rise (3.1 ± 1.15), peak intensity (8.92 ± 3.72 a.u.), wash‐in rate (2.06 ± 0.70 a.u./s) and wash‐out rate (?1.07 ± 0.91 a.u./s). The perfusion pattern of normal feline small bowel may be useful for characterizing feline gastrointestinal disorders that involve the intestinal wall.