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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Point-of-Care Kidney and Genitourinary Ultrasound in Adults: Image Acquisition
Published on: June 21, 2024
The effect of contrast-enhanced ultrasound on the kidneys in eight cats
Merja R Leinonen1, Marja R Raekallio, Outi M Vainio
1Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland. merja.leinonen@helsinki.fi
Abstract:
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of the left kidney was performed on eight non-anesthetized, young, purpose bred, domestic shorthaired cats. Each cat underwent a physical examination before and 4h and 48h after CEUS. Complete blood count (CBC), serum biochemical analysis, urinalysis, including evaluation of the enzymatic activities of urinary N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), were also performed. No changes were observed in CBC or serum biochemical analyses, with the exception of a decrease in blood urea concentration at 48h post-contrast ultrasound. A small elevation in NAG (U/g creatinine) was observed with a mean (SD) increase from 0.53 (0.35) to 1.43 (0.59) U/g creatinine. The magnitude of the rise was less than the circadian variation reported earlier for healthy cats. These results suggest that CEUS can be safely used to assess kidney perfusion in cats. The changes observed in laboratory values after CEUS did not appear to be related to detrimental effects on the kidneys.
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