Ultrasonography of small intestinal inflammatory and neoplastic diseases in dogs and cats.

Ultrasonography, which has become a mainstay of diagnosing intestinal diseases in dogs and cats, is often one of the first diagnostic tools used to differentiate inflammatory from neoplastic infiltration of the small intestine. Although overlap in the sonographic appearances of inflammatory and neoplastic infiltration make a definitive diagnosis difficult, awareness of features of both diseases is important for the accurate interpretation of the sonographic findings. Full-thickness intestinal biopsy remains the gold standard for differentiating inflammatory from neoplastic disease of the small intestine.