Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How a new test measures thyroid hormone in cat and dog blood
By Anderson, Rouven et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2017·Clinic of Small Animal Medicine (Anderson, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of an automated enzyme-linked fluorescent assay for thyroxine measurement in cat and dog sera.
Plain-English summary
A study looked at a new test for measuring thyroid hormone levels in cats and dogs to help diagnose thyroid disease. The test, called an enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA), was compared to a more established method. While both tests were generally accurate, the older method was found to be slightly better at identifying whether hormone levels were low, normal, or high. This new test could still be useful for vets, especially in a clinic setting, but pet owners should know that the traditional test may provide more reliable results.
People also search for: cat thyroid disease test · dog thyroid hormone levels · ELFA vs EIA for pets · how to test cat for thyroid problems
Abstract
Measurement of total thyroxine (T4) is the first testing step in the work-up of thyroid disease in small animals. We evaluated an enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA) as an in-house method to measure T4 in cats and dogs. We compared the T4 concentration in sera of 122 cats and 176 dogs measured by the ELFA with an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to assess the concordance of the 2 methods. Bias of the ELFA in cats was -11.4% and in dogs 1.4%. Using Bland-Altman plots, limits of agreement were -81.5 to 58.7% in cats and -71.4 to 74.4% in dogs. Imprecision was calculated for both methods. Intra- and interassay coefficients of variation (CVs) of the ELFA in feline sera were 0.7 and 3.4% and of the EIA 7.6 and 15.7%, respectively. Intra- and interassay CVs of both ELFA and EIA in canine sera were <9.5%. Reference intervals for the ELFA method were established and were 13.3-49.5 nmol/L for cats and 10.1-42.9 nmol/L for dogs. Accuracy of the EIA and ELFA was scored by assessing if the measured T4 value would identify the expected T4 range (low, normal, or elevated) of patients, based on history, clinical presentation, other diagnostic means, and response to therapy. This was possible for 75 cats and 50 dogs. Both methods yielded acceptable results, but the EIA was more accurate compared to the ELFA (percentage of true-positives in cats and dogs: EIA: 97% and 100%; ELFA: 92% and 94%).
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28355954/