Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
CT scan ratio helps measure bronchial wall thickening in dogs
By Szabo, David et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2015·Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Accuracy of a computed tomography bronchial wall thickness to pulmonary artery diameter ratio for assessing bronchial wall thickening in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with chronic coughing and breathing problems were evaluated using a special imaging technique called computed tomography (CT) to measure the thickness of their bronchial walls. The study found that dogs with chronic bronchitis had significantly thicker bronchial walls compared to healthy dogs. A specific measurement ratio was identified that could accurately indicate bronchial wall thickening, which is a sign of chronic bronchitis. This information can help veterinarians diagnose and manage dogs with this condition more effectively.
People also search for: dog coughing treatment · chronic bronchitis in dogs · CT scan for dog breathing problems
Abstract
Computed tomography is increasingly being used in veterinary medicine to evaluate animals with pulmonary signs such as coughing, tachypnea, and exercise intolerance, however, a quantitative measure of bronchial wall thickening has yet to be validated in veterinary medicine. Canine chronic bronchitis is a disease that is characterized histologically by thickening of the bronchial walls. Thoracic CT images of 16 dogs with chronic bronchitis and 72 dogs presenting for conditions unrelated to cough were evaluated. A ratio comparing the bronchial wall thickness to the adjacent pulmonary artery diameter was obtained in the right and left cranial and caudal lung lobes. There was no significant difference in dogs with chronic bronchitis or unaffected dogs between the left and right hemithorax, patient weight, patient age, image slice thickness, or CT machine used. Dogs with chronic bronchitis were found to have a significantly greater ratio than unaffected dogs (P < 0.001). The ratios in the cranial lung lobes were found to be significantly greater than the caudal lung lobes in both chronic bronchitis and unaffected dogs (P < 0.001). A receiver operating characteristic curve of the ratios in the cranial lung lobes had an area under the curve of 0.912, indicating high accuracy in predicting for bronchial wall thickening. A ratio of ≥ 0.6 in the cranial lung lobes was found to have a sensitivity of 77% and specificity of 100% in predicting for the presence of chronic bronchitis, and we propose using this cut-off as supportive of bronchial wall thickening on CT.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25376985/