Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Using contrast ultrasound to identify liver tumors in dogs
By Nakamura, Kensuke et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2010·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for characterization of canine focal liver lesions.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with liver lesions underwent a special ultrasound test using a contrast agent called Sonazoid to help identify whether the lesions were cancerous or not. The test was able to accurately distinguish between malignant tumors and benign nodules by observing how the lesions appeared during different phases of the ultrasound. In most cases, the malignant tumors looked different from the surrounding healthy liver tissue. This method shows promise for better diagnosing liver problems in dogs, which can help guide treatment options.
People also search for: dog liver tumor symptoms · ultrasound for dog liver lesions · Sonazoid contrast agent for dogs
Abstract
In six normal beagles and 27 dogs with spontaneous focal or multifocal liver lesions, contrast-enhanced ultrasonography using Sonazoid was performed. Sonazoid is a newly developed second-generation contrast agent with the ability to be used for real-time contrast imaging along with parenchymal imaging. An appropriate protocol for the evaluation of all three phases (arterial, portal, and parenchymal) was established based on the results for normal beagles. By evaluation of the echogenicity of hepatic nodules during the arterial and parenchymal phases it was possible to differentiate malignant tumors from benign nodules with very high accuracy. In 15 of 16 dogs diagnosed as malignant tumors, nodules were clearly hypoechoic to the surrounding normal liver during the parenchymal phase. Additionally, malignant tumors had different echogenicity compared with the surrounding normal liver during the arterial phase in 14 of 15 dogs. In the portal phase, there were no characteristic findings. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography with Sonazoid appears to improve the characterization of canine focal and multifocal hepatic lesions.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20166400/