Ultrasonography of the pancreas and spleen of non-poisonous snakes

• Grant number: 21/09291-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2021
• End date: November 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Maria Jaqueline Mamprim de Arruda Monteiro
• Grantee: Ana Clara Fernandes Gomes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Despite their ecological and cultural importance, reptiles are threatened due to habitat loss and degradation, the introduction of invasive species, pollution, disease and parasitism, unsustainable use of their resources, global climate change, and human-induced deaths. There is also a growing demand for these animals in the non-conventional pet market and the consequent increase of these in the veterinary clinical routine, however, the information available in the literature about their characteristic and peculiar anatomical details are still scarce. Because it is safe and non-invasive, the ultrasound examination will be the diagnostic method used in this study and, through it, the objective is to describe the topographic anatomy of the spleen and pancreas of non-venomous snakes in order to provide data on the normality of these structures, such as location and ultrasonographic aspects (echogenicity, echotexture, and dimensions), and to define whether its detection is altered according to seasonality, with the purpose of supporting the interpretation and diagnostic elucidation of diseases in these species, complementing the information found in the literature and collaborating with new studies.(AU)