Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
MRI features of mast cell tumors and lymph nodes in dogs
By Pokorny, Esteban et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2012·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Magnetic resonance imaging of canine mast cell tumors.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A dog with a mast cell tumor (a type of skin cancer) was examined using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to better understand the tumor and its potential spread to nearby lymph nodes. The MRI showed that most tumors were brighter than the surrounding muscle, indicating they were active and likely cancerous. The imaging also revealed that lymph nodes with cancer were larger than normal ones, which can help veterinarians determine if the cancer has spread. This study suggests that MRI can be a helpful tool for vets when planning treatment for dogs with mast cell tumors.
People also search for: dog mast cell tumor treatment · MRI for dog cancer · signs of dog skin tumors
Abstract
Mast cell tumors (MCT) are the most common cutaneous tumors in dogs. Our purpose was to describe the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging characteristics of cutaneous MCT and to identify imaging characteristics that allow differentiation of metastatic from normal lymph nodes. Eight dogs with a total of nineMCT were imaged as were their presumed draining and associated contralateral lymph nodes. The signal intensity of tumors and lymph nodes was compared to adjacent musculature. On T2-W images, 7/9 MCT were hyperintense to muscle and 2/9 were isointense. On T1-W images, 8/9 MCT were isointense and 1/9 were mildly hypointense. All tumors were strongly contrast enhancing; 5/9 were homogeneous and 4/9 heterogeneous in their enhancement patterns. Six lymph node pairs were included in the evaluation (five sentinel lymph nodes with metastases, one without, and six contralateral lymph nodes). Metastatic lymph nodes were significantly larger than their contralateral lymph nodes (P = 0.039). All lymph nodes were isointense on T1-W images and hyperintense on T2-W images. 5/5 metastatic and 2/7 normal lymph nodes were heterogeneously T2-hyperintense. All lymph nodes were moderately to strongly contrast enhancing. 4/5 metastatic and 2/7 normal lymph nodes had heterogeneous enhancement patterns. While heterogeneity was more common in metastatic than in normal lymph nodes, this difference was not significant (P = 0.058 for T2-W images; P = 0.234 for postcontrast images). MR imaging may be useful in the presurgical evaluation and clinical staging of cutaneous MCT.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22136427/