Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
A semiquantitative cytological evaluation of normal and pathological samples from the external ear canal of dogs and cats.
- Journal:
- Veterinary dermatology
- Year:
- 2002
- Authors:
- Ginel, Pedro J et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery · Spain
Plain-English summary
In a study involving 37 healthy dogs and 16 healthy cats, as well as 24 dogs and 22 cats with ear infections (otitis externa), researchers looked at the number of skin cells, yeast, and bacteria in the ear canal. They found that dogs and cats with ear infections had significantly higher levels of yeast and bacteria compared to healthy animals, and these higher counts often matched with visible signs of infection. For dogs, more than 5 yeast cells or 25 bacteria per sample were considered abnormal, while for cats, the thresholds were more than 12 yeast cells or 15 bacteria. Although the method used to identify inflamed ear canals wasn't very sensitive, it was highly specific, meaning it was good at confirming infections when they were present. Overall, the study helps establish what is normal versus abnormal in ear canal samples for dogs and cats.
Abstract
Numbers of desquamated epithelial cells, yeast cells and bacterial organisms were counted in samples collected from the external ear canal of 37 normal dogs and 16 normal cats, and from 24 dogs and 22 cats with otitis externa. The aims of the study were to establish quantitative reference ranges and to correlate these data with the clinical status of the dogs and cats. Numbers of yeast cells and bacterial organisms were significantly increased in dogs (P = 0.05; P = 0.0001) and cats (P = 0.0001; P = 0.0001) with otitis externa, and in most cases high counts were correlated with clinical signs. Mean Malassezia counts per high-power dry field of > or = 5 in the dog and > or = 12 in the cat were considered abnormal. Mean bacterial counts per high-power dry field of > or = 25 in the dog and > or = 15 in the cat were considered abnormal. When used to differentiate normal from inflamed external ear canals, these figures provided a low sensitivity but a specificity of > or = 95%.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12074704/