Teddy
Fluoroscopy aids Teddy’s liver repair
Jack Russell Terrier Teddy has been given a fully-functioning liver and a longer life expectancy, thanks to an intervention using a C-Arm Fluoroscope donated by The Rumba Foundation.
Two-year-old Teddy was referred to Fitzpatrick Referrals Oncology and Soft Tissue (FROST) with a double intra-hepatic shunt - two abnormal vessels in his liver. These were producing neurological abnormalities such as excessive thirst, walking in circles, staring into space and falling over.
Intra-hepatic shunts are rare in small breed dogs and double intrahepatic shunts even more so! Teddy’s owners had already been told that correction of his shunts would not be possible and that he would have to stay on life-long medication. Failure to correct a shunt results in shorter life expectancy due to progressive clinical signs and liver failure.
Thanks to the C-Arm Fluoroscope donated by The Rumba Foundation to FROST, Teddy had a stent placed in his caudal vena cava using fluoroscopic guidance. The stent spanned the opening of both of the shunts. Then, a number of platinum coils were inserted into both shunts under fluoroscopic visualisation in order to stop the blood flow through the abnormal vessels. The entire procedure took under two hours and was performed via a small 2 cm incision in his neck.
Teddy was up, bouncing around and eating within a few hours and was discharged to his family a few days later. He went on to make an excellent recovery at home and is currently having his medications reduced.