The influence of stomach volume on the liver topography in cats

The aim of this study has been to describe the effect of varying degrees of fullness of the stomach on liver topography in cats by means of the sectional anatomy of the abdominal cavity. Twenty-four adult healthy cats of both sexes and of different ages were used. The cats were divided into two groups. The first group had empty stomachs and the second group had filled stomachs. Eight cats were dissected. The remaining cats were frozen at - 20°C, eight of these were then sectioned paramedially and the other eight were sectioned transversely. In the dissection and sections, it was observed that the liver shifted considerably to the right and craniodorsally in cats with full stomachs. In this article, the topographical anatomy of the liver according to varying stomach volumes is described in a manner that is useful to veterinary surgeons and clinicians. The sectional findings obtained from the paramedial and transverse sections provide information for computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.