[Computed tomography of the pig lung. An innovative approach to the definition of the pulmonary health status].

Objective: In veterinary medicine computed tomography (CT) imaging has gained importance in recent years, especially for diagnostics in pets, but also during the course of experimental studies in animal models for human medicine. In this study the applicability of CT as an imaging method for the depiction of the porcine thorax and in particular of the pig lung was evaluated.

Material And Methods: CT examinations were performed with 11 healthy pigs of two age groups. For evaluation, CT findings were related to clinical, radiological, macroscopical, microscopical, and microbiological findings.

Results: Clinically relevant anatomical structures were determined and recorded using transverse slices. In ventral recumbency, lung parenchyma density measurements at the levels of the second, fourth and seventh thoracic vertebrae resulted in significantly higher densities of the ventral in comparison to those of the dorsal lung quadrants.

Conclusion And Clinical Relevance: Computed tomography is a valuable tool for the high-contrast depiction of the porcine lung without superposition. In future studies this CT reference base for unaltered pig lungs may facilitate the identification of anatomical structures within the porcine lung as well as the assessment of pathological lung alterations.