VIM of SoCal

02/11/2025

This is a supernumerary kidney in a dog. Notice the kidney is slightly misshapen and located directly beneath the bladder. Supernumerary kidneys are rare congenital defects and in humans, have been associated with kidney stones, cancer, and infection. Little is known about this defect in dogs because it is so rarely seen.

01/01/2025

This was a 13-year-old cat with acute onset weight loss and poor appetite. The mass is hypoechoic, heterogenous, and irregularly shaped, with hyperechoic surrounding mesentery and a small amount of free fluid. The appearance and location of the mass at the pyloroduodenal junction makes carcinoma of the pancreatic body the top differential. The adjacent discrete hypoechoic nodule may be metastasis to the mesentery which is common with pancreatic carcinoma.

12/16/2024

This is a sagittal view of an intussusception. It has the classic appearance of multiple layers, indicating the telescoped bowel loops.
This is most commonly seen in puppies with parvovirus or severe parasitic infection. In this case, the patient was a young cat that had recently ingested foreign material. After the scan he was sent for exploratory surgery.

11/04/2024

Check out this article by one of our founders:

What Does a Veterinary Small Animal Internal Medicine Specialist Do?

09/13/2024

One of Dr. Ghormley's passions is teaching. She will be giving this online class later this month on VIN.

05/20/2024

Here we have a mass in the spleen. The appearance makes a benign process possible given the lack of cavitation that is classic for a cancer. Surgery was recommended for this patient as even benign masses have the risk of rupturing.

05/01/2024

This is a textbook example of a foreign body seen on ultrasound. There is a distinct object with strong echogenic shadowing. This foreign body was in the pylorus and caused a full gastric obstruction. Given the size of the foreign body, the dog required surgery for removal.

Veterinary Internal Medicine of Southern California offers mobile ultrasound and internal medicine services.

04/25/2024

Immune mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) is the most common autoimmune disease in dogs but much less common in cats. The inciting cause is typically unknown. Although there is a high mortality rate with this disease, many dogs can be successfully treated with aggressive immune suppression.
The picture shows large pale red blood cells consistent with anemia and bone marrow regeneration. This is classic for IMHA.

04/25/2024

This is an adrenal gland tumor. Most adrenal glands in large dogs are smaller than 0.80 cm. This tumor ended up measuring approximately 5 cm thick and 9 cm long! This patient had signs of Cushing's disease as well. Surgery is the recommended treatment for this tumor.