CONTRAST-ENHANCED PORTAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE ANGIOGRAPHY IN DOGS WITH SUSPECTED CONGENITAL PORTAL VASCULAR ANOMALIES

Contrast-enhanced multiphase magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) was used in 17 dogs with a suspected congenital portal vascular anomaly. Portal vascular anomalies were identified in 16 of the 17 dogs. Eleven had a single intrahepatic portocaval shunt (two central divisional, three right divisional, and six left divisional), one dog had a double intrahepatic portocaval shunt, one dog had a hepatic arteriovenous malformation, one dog had a complex intrahepatic porto-caval shunt. Two dogs had an extrahepatic portosystemic shunt and no shunt was identified in one dog. Total imaging time was < 10 min and image quality was good to excellent in all dogs. Portal CE-MRA is a feasible, fast and non invasive technique to diagnose portal vascular anomalies in dogs, with a large field-of-view and good anatomic depiction of the abnormal vessels. Based on these results, CE-MRA is an efficient imaging technique for the diagnosis of portal vascular anomalies in dogs.