Single-aliquot, non-bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage in the diagnosis of metastatic mammary tumours in dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of bronchoalveolar lavage as an auxiliary tool for the diagnosis of neoplastic lung metastasis from mammary tumours in dogs. METHODS: A single-institution prospective observational study including 20 healthy dogs and 30 with mammary tumours. Thoracic radiography and single-aliquot, non-bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage with cytology interpretation was performed in all animals and the results compared between groups. RESULTS: Dogs with mammary gland tumours and radiographic evidence of pulmonary metastasis had significantly higher relative neutrophil counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid than dogs with tumours without evidence of metastasis. In only one dog, in which thoracic radiographs were normal, were malignant cells identified in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Inflammatory bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in dogs with mammary gland tumours may suggest metastatic disease. Bronchoalveolar lavage does not appear to be sensitive for identifying malignant cells.

Infrared Thermography in Dogs with Mammary Tumors and Healthy Dogs.

BACKGROUND: Infrared thermography is a painless, noninvasive, nonionizing diagnostic imaging exam used in human medicine as an auxiliary tool for breast cancer diagnosis in women. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Define thermographic mean temperatures of healthy mammary glands and compare these temperatures with those of mammary glands with tumors in dogs. ANIMALS: Fifty client-owned female dogs were evaluated, including 20 with histopathologically confirmed mammary tumor and 30 clinically healthy (control). METHODS: A randomized study using infrared thermography analyzed each mammary gland of the animals from the control group and mammary glands with tumors from the tumor group, then the thermographic temperatures obtained were compared. Thermographic exam was performed in a temperature-controlled room with a cooled thermographic camera-Flir E-40 (Flir Systems(®) ) RESULTS: There was significantly a higher temperature in the caudal abdominal and inguinal mammary glands than the other glands in the healthy group (P < .05). Dogs with mammary tumors had significantly higher thermographic temperature compared with unaffected glands regardless of the tumor size and the location (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The technique seems to be able to assess for the presence of neoplasia within the mammary tissue in bitches. Further investigation is necessary to determine the impact of this technique when adopted clinically.

Ultrasonography of small intestinal obstructions: a contemporary approach.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the accuracy of intestinal ultrasound for diagnosis of intestinal obstruction in dogs and cats. METHODS: A prospective clinical study was performed. Inclusion criteria were dogs and cats with clinical signs suggestive of gastrointestinal obstruction. Animals with no obstruction detected on ultrasound were excluded if they could not be monitored for 48 hours to confirm absence of obstruction. Sonographic diagnosis of small intestinal obstruction was based on identification of at least two findings suggestive of intestinal obstruction. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients suspected of having intestinal obstruction were included. Correct diagnosis of intestinal obstruction was made in 21 cases (23%), and in 68 (74%) this diagnosis was excluded. Interpretation of the images on prospective analysis had sensitivity, positive predictive, specificity and negative predictive values of 100%, 87.5%, 95.8% and 100%, respectively. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Ultrasonography is an excellent method for investigation of animals with gastrointestinal disorders, and is particularly useful for excluding obstructive processes.