Specialties
Avian and ExoticsCardiology
Clinical Pathology
Dentistry and Oral Surgery
Dermatology
Emergency & Critical Care
Integrative Medicine
Internal Medicine
Medical Oncology
Neurology
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Radiation Oncology
Radioiodine (I-131)
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Theriogenology
Nasopharyngeal Stent
Kitty is an 11-year old cat who was seen at NorthStar VETS by one of our internal medicine specialists. The owner noticed that she was sneezing more, breathing noisier (known as stertor, and is often associated with problems in the nose), and had yellow nasal discharge. After a thorough examination, Kitty was placed under general anesthesia to get a better look at her nose. A CT scan was performed and a mass was seen in her hard palate (the roof of her mouth). This mass was aspirated and diagnosed as cancer. Below is a CT scan of Kitty's head. The red arrows denote the mass that is penetrating the hard palate.
Because we knew we couldn't remove the mass with surgery, we wanted to make Kitty as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. Kitty's main discomfort was her breathing. If we could unblock her nasal passage (cats don't like to breathe through their mouth), Kitty could breathe more comfortably.
We decided to place a metal stent in Kitty's nose. The stent would expand and push the tumor out of the way and open up her nasal passage. This was done with the help of fluoroscopy (a way of viewing radiographs in real-time as a continuous video so you can see things as they happen). We successfully placed a stent in her nose and now she is breathing more comfortably. Below is a radiograph of Kitty with the stent in her nose.