Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Contrast ultrasound helps tell benign from cancerous spleen spots
By Nakamura, K et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2010·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for characterization of focal splenic lesions in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 29 dogs with abnormal spots on their spleens were examined using a special ultrasound technique that uses microbubbles to improve imaging. This method helped veterinarians better distinguish between benign (non-cancerous) and malignant (cancerous) lesions. The results showed that certain patterns seen during the ultrasound were strongly linked to cancer, particularly in the early and late phases of the imaging. This technique could be very helpful for vets in diagnosing splenic issues in dogs, potentially leading to earlier and more accurate treatment decisions.
People also search for: dog spleen tumor symptoms · ultrasound for dog splenic lesions · dog cancer diagnosis ultrasound
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography with perflubutane microbubbles improves the diagnostic accuracy to differentiate benign and malignant focal liver lesions in dogs. HYPOTHESIS: Perflubutane microbubbles-enhanced ultrasonography is useful for differentiation of benign from malignant focal splenic lesions in dogs. ANIMALS: Twenty-nine clinical dogs with single or multiple focal splenic lesions detected by conventional ultrasonography. METHODS: Prospective clinical observational study. Perflubutane microbubbles-enhanced ultrasonography was performed in 29 dogs with focal splenic lesions. Qualitative assessment of the enhancement pattern was performed in the early vascular, late vascular, and parenchymal phases. RESULTS: In the early vascular phase, a hypoechoic pattern was significantly associated with malignancy (P=.02) with sensitivity of 38% (95% confidence interval [CI], 25-38%) and specificity of 100% (95% CI, 84-100%). In the late vascular phase, a hypoechoic pattern was significantly associated with malignancy (P=.001) with sensitivity of 81% (95% CI, 66-90%) and specificity of 85% (95% CI, 65-95%). There was no significant difference between malignant and benign lesions during the parenchymal phase. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Hypoechoic splenic nodules in the early and late vascular phases with perflubutane microbubbles-enhanced ultrasonography are strongly suggestive of malignancy in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21039867/