Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Ultrasound liver spots in dogs don't predict exact disease type
By Warren-Smith, C M R et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2012·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Lack of associations between ultrasonographic appearance of parenchymal lesions of the canine liver and histological diagnosis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 371 dogs with liver issues to see if ultrasound images could help diagnose liver diseases. The dogs had various conditions, including hepatitis and liver tumors, but the ultrasound results varied widely and didn’t reliably indicate the specific disease. While some ultrasound features were more common in certain conditions, there was no clear link between what the ultrasound showed and the actual diagnosis. This means that even if an ultrasound shows abnormalities, a biopsy is still necessary to accurately identify liver problems in dogs.
People also search for: dog liver disease symptoms · ultrasound liver dog diagnosis · canine hepatitis treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess if there are any ultrasonographic features that may enable tentative diagnosis of hepatic parenchymal disease. METHODS: Records of 371 dogs that had abdominal ultrasonography and abnormal liver on biopsy or necropsy were reviewed. RESULTS: Histological diagnoses were hepatitis (n=77), nodular hyperplasia (n=47), vacuolar change (n=45), fibrosis (n=32), primary hepatic carcinoma (n=30), lymphoma (n=28), metastatic neoplasia (n=27), necrosis (n=21), lipidosis (n=17), haemangiosarcoma (n=13), round cell tumour (n=9), hepatocellular adenoma (n=8), degenerative change (n=6), steroid hepatopathy (n=7) and extramedullary haematopoiesis (n=4). The most prevalent ultrasonographic features were multifocal lesions (63% livers with haemangiosarcoma and 43% livers with hepatocellular carcinoma), diffuse lesions (71% livers with steroid hepatopathy, 44% livers with fibrosis and 40% livers with vacuolar hepatopathy), hyperechoic lesions (71% livers with steroid hepatopathy, 41% livers with lipidosis and 38% livers with fibrosis), heterogeneous lesions (62% livers with haemangiosarcoma), hepatomegaly (43% livers with steroid hepatopathy) and peritoneal fluid (62% livers with haemangiosarcoma). Target lesions were associated with malignancy in 67% instances. Marked variability in ultrasonographic appearance of lesions was observed for all diagnoses, and no statistically significant associations between ultrasonographic appearance and diagnosis were found. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Histological examination remains essential for diagnosis of canine hepatic disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22931398/