Ultrasonography of the equine elbow technique and normal appearance

This study was intended to document normal ultrasonographic appearance of t he equine elbow and anatomic landmarks useful ill. clinical imaging. Both forelimbs of five equine cadavers and both forelimbs of six live adult horses were used (4 Arabian-Barbes, 3 Arabs, 2 Anglo-Arabs, 1 Selle Franca is, 1 Anglo-Hispano-Arab, three to 18 years old). To facilitate the reading of the scans, a zoning system was developed fur some anatomic structures. Ultrasonography was performed with a real-time B-mode semi-portable sector scanner using 7.5 & 5 MHz transducers. On one cadaver limb, MRI was perform ed on a system at 1.5 Tesla, T1 weighted spin echo, TR of 475 msec, RE of 1 5 msec, image matrix size 179 x 256 pixels. Ultrasonography images were com pared with gross anatomy and with MRI scans to provide the normal ultrasono graphic representation of the equine elbow. The lateral collateral ligament, the triceps brachii tendon with its subten dinous bursa, the proximal tendon of the ulnaris lateralis and the articula r cartilage of the humeral trochlea were easy to examine ultrasonographical ly. The medial collateral ligament and the distal biceps brachii tendon req uired more expertise to assess. Ultrasonographic appearance and course of these structures are described. T he 7.5 MHz transducer was best to be used. Ultrasonographic findings correl ated well with MRI scans and with gross anatomy in the cadavers' limbs.