Two-dimensional and Doppler sonographic prostatic appearance of sexually intact French Bulldogs.

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between age and prostate size and measure and characterize the prostates of French Bulldogs through two-dimensional and Doppler ultrasound. Thirty-three healthy French Bulldogs were used in this study. The dogs were divided into three groups of 11 animals according to age: 8 to 19 months (group 1), 24 to 36 months (group 2), and 48 to 72 months (group 3). The animals were evaluated once with ultrasound to obtain the following: the two-dimensional sonographic appearance of the prostate, prostatic dimensions, and characteristics from colored Doppler (perfusion characteristics, diameter, and number of pixels of the vessel) and spectral Doppler (wave morphology, resistive index, and pulsatility). There was a high positive correlation between age and prostate volume (r = 0.906). The prostatic volume gradually increased with age (P < 0.05). The characteristics in color and spectral Doppler differed according to the location of the prostatic artery. In cranial and subcapsular location: prostatic artery diameter was 0.22 ± 0.02 and 0.15 ± 0.02; number of pixels: 15,431.09 ± 1753 and 10,095.18 ± 1079.85; resistance index: 0.86 ± 0.06 and 0.64 ± 0.05; pulsatility index: 2.45 ± 0.32 and 1.14 ± 0.11, respectively. All parameters evaluated increased between groups 1 and 3 (P < 0.05), except at the parenchymal location. The resistance and pulsatility indices were significantly lower in group 1 compared with group 3 in all locations studied. In addition, the indices were significantly reduced among the locations of the prostatic artery, with the exception of the cranial and caudal locations. Groups 1 and 3 differed in all evaluations, suggesting that there is a relationship between age and the Doppler parameters evaluated in this study. It can be concluded that two-dimensional ultrasound combined with Doppler ultrasound plays an important role in the evaluation of the canine prostate. Furthermore, the location of the prostatic artery may influence Doppler parameters, and age is an important factor that should be considered when evaluating the canine prostate.

Cryopreservation of canine epididymal sperm using ACP-106c and TRIS.

The objective was to cryopreserve sperm recovered from the canine epididymal cauda immediately after an orchiectomy. The sperm was stored for 12h at 4 °C using ACP-106c and TRIS as extenders. Sixty adult male dogs were used. The testis-epididymis complex (TEC) was removed, immersed in 0.9% saline and transported to the laboratory. The 60 TEC were divided into groups according to the 4 °C cooling time (0 h or 12 h) and according to the extender used for sperm recovery (ACP-106c or TRIS), forming 4 experimental groups: G0h-ACP, G12h-ACP, G0h-TRIS and G12h-TRIS. The sperm were recovered from the epididymal cauda using the retrograde flow technique. Next, 1.0 mL of ACP-106c or 1.0 mL of TRIS (preheated to 37 °C for 5 min) was added to the sperm of each epididymis. One week later, the sperm was thawed at 37 °C for 1 min, and its morphology, functionality and total and progressive sperm motilities were analyzed. Other parameters were obtained by Computer Assisted Semen Analysis (CASA). The data were submitted to multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) (P<0.05). The total motility values were 52.17 ± 1.78 and 49.8 ± 1.93 for groups G0h-ACP and G12h-ACP and 50.7 ± 2.06 and 43.90 ± 2.51 for groups G0h-TRIS and G12h-TRIS, respectively. A decrease in total sperm motility was observed after 12h of cooling for both extenders (P<0.05). ACP-106c can be used as an extender for freezing canine epididymal sperm, and the freezing procedure must be performed immediately after sperm recovery.

Assessment of uterine involution in bitches using B-mode and Doppler ultrasonography.

The aim of this study was to measure the uterine diameter by B-mode and Doppler velocimetry patterns of uterine arteries in postpartum female dogs after normal delivery or cesarean section (c-section). Ten female dogs were assessed on weeks 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 postpartum. Only at week 0, bitches submitted to c-section presented higher body diameters and uterine horns when compared to normal delivery. It was observed a reduction in uterine diameters over the weeks in both groups. In general, bitches submitted to c-section presented lower uterine perfusion. Each group presented distinct Doppler velocimetric characteristics. It was concluded that the B-mode ultrasound and Doppler are important tools for assessing puerperal uterine with distinct characteristics influenced by the type of delivery.