In turtles, conventional radiographic techniques give little information on the internal organs because of the density of the shell. Therefore, computed tomography (CT) was attempted in six clinically normal red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans). The CT values were measured in soft tissues such as the liver and the lungs, and in the bone. On the basis of the results, the optimal observation window was determined for each type of tissue. Histopathological examination revealed that all the turtles had fatty metamorphosis of the liver. There was a tendency for turtles with more severe fatty metamorphosis to have lower CT values, suggesting that CT can be useful in diagnosing the degree of fatty metamorphosis. CT was also perfomed in three clinical cases of the same species. In one animal, a foreign body was detected in the digestive tract, another was diagnosed as having pneumonia, and the third had egg-binding. These results demonstrate that CT is effective for diagnosing such disorders, and that there is the possibility of detecting other abnormalities in the soft tissue of turtles.

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This study was performed to detect the progress of gentamicin-induced renal disorder by measuring the urinary enzyme N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) in rats. Twenty-one rats weighing 235 to 255g were divided into two groups : a gentamicin (GM) group and a control group. GM is an aminoglycoside that is known to have renal toxicity, and urinary excretion of NAG can indicate the degree of renal disorder caused by aminoglycosides. The GM group consisted of 14 rats, which were given GM at 50mg/kg B.W./day for seven days. The control group consisted of seven rats, which were given the same volume of saline on the same days as the GM group. In the GM group, serum creatinine (Cr) and urea nitrogen (UN) increased on day 7. In the GM group, on day 2, when renal function was still judged to be normal, there was a tendency for urinary excretion of NAG to increase transiently, but it recovered after a period of time. When urinary excretion of NAG did not recover, the renal disorder was judged to be severe. Conventionally, NAG evaluation using 24-hour urine sampling technique is thought to be preferable. But in this study, 24-hour evaluation could not detect the stage prior to renal failure. We suggest that NAG levels should be measured just before agents with renal toxicity are administered, in order to be able to evaluate the severity of renal disorder.

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A nine-year-old male Japanese cat was brought in with a three-month history of ventral swelling of the neck. By clinical and blood chemistry tests, the disease was diagnosed as hyperthyroidism with hypertrophy of the thyroid gland. Therefore, administration of thyroid hormone synthesis inhibitor was initiated. The swelling grew larger gradually in spite of this treatment, so thyroidectomy was performed three months later. Histopatholiogically, the disease was confirmed to be a thyroid carcinoma. The cat has been given the same medicine for a year, and the progress is satisfactory without any abnormal signs.

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