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Originally Posted by Ladyhawk  According to further study that I've been involved in today ( I really love to study) a BAT really will bring no conclusive proof because of the following taken from Dr. Tobias's work on liver shunts: "A Liver shunt cannot be difinitely diagnosed by bloodwork; shunting can only be found by advanced techniques such as scintigraphy, ultrasound, portography, cat scan, MRI, or exploratory surgery." More interesting reading to be done. |
True, but one would definately not start with those advanced techniques. I understand that a dog could be asymptomatic for many years yet still have LS or MVD. A BAT over 25 would surely signal if further testing needs to be done and other things would be askew in a CBC as well and this is relatively simple testing. It's not perfect but if it is all that is available at this time as a minimally invasive screening, why not do it?