Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Non-specific chronic nasal disease in 22 cats and test results
By Michiels, L et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2003·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A retrospective study of non-specific rhinitis in 22 cats and the value of nasal cytology and histopathology.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 22 cats with long-term nasal issues were examined after other causes, like tumors, were ruled out. Many of these cats showed signs of inflammation in their nasal passages, but the type of inflammation varied. While some cats had acute inflammation, others had mixed or chronic inflammation. The study found that using cytology (a test to look at cells) was not very reliable for diagnosing chronic inflammation compared to histopathology (looking at tissue samples). More research is needed to understand how these tests relate to treatment and outcomes for cats with chronic nasal disease.
People also search for: cat nasal problems · chronic rhinitis in cats · cat nose inflammation treatment
Abstract
Case records from 40 cats subjected to rhinoscopic examination for investigation of chronic nasal disease were reviewed. Cases in which no specific underlying cause (eg neoplasia) was detected were further selected for detailed retrospective study. In these 22 cats (55% of the initial population), a final diagnosis of non-specific chronic nasal disease was made. The radiographic, rhinoscopic, cytological and histopathological findings were reviewed. Mucosal biopsy specimens were obtained in 20 cases. Despite clinical signs of more than 4 weeks duration, histopathology indicated acute inflammation in four cases. Two cases had chronic lymphoplasmacytic inflammation and 14 had mixed (lymphoplasmacytic and neutrophilic) inflammation. Specimens for cytology were obtained from 17 cases by brush sampling. Three of these samples were not diagnostic due to the poor quality of the slides; one showed normal cytology. Acute inflammation was diagnosed by cytology (n=11) more commonly than chronic (n=1) or mixed inflammation (n=1). Concurrent samples, of quality suitable for both histopathological and cytological interpretation, were collected from 12 cases only. Cytological results were in agreement with the histological results in 25% of these cases, the main discrepancy being the nature of the dominant inflammatory cell type. Therefore cytology does not appear to be a reliable means for detection of chronic inflammation. Further studies are needed in order to investigate the correlation between the nature of mucosal inflammation as defined by both histological and cytological evaluation, and the relationship of these test results to prognosis and therapy.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12948503/