Comparative diagnostic imaging in giant African land snails (Achatinidae)

Michaela Gumpenberger; Silvana Schmidt-Ukaj; Stephan Handschuh

doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1223784

Comparative diagnostic imaging in giant African land snails (Achatinidae)

Front Vet Sci. 2023 Oct 3:10:1223784. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1223784. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Michaela Gumpenberger¹, Silvana Schmidt-Ukaj², Stephan Handschuh³

Affiliations

¹ Diagnostic Imaging, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
² Service for Birds and Reptiles, Small Animal Internal Medicine, Department for Companion Animals and Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
³ VetCore, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

Abstract

Giant African land snails (GALS) have become increasingly popular, for example, as pets or in kindergartens in Europe, but little is known about their clinically relevant anatomy, diseases, or further details in diagnostic imaging. The present study focuses on the techniques and image interpretation of radiography, computed tomography, and sonography in GALS. The aim of the study is to find the most appropriate imaging tool to visualize the various organs within the mantle cavity (also known as visceral mass) in GALS. The detailed anatomy of GALS is presented with numerous figures of the different imaging techniques. The sensory organs and nervous system will not be part of the present study.

Keywords: computed tomography; contrast medium; radiography; snail; sonography.