OBJECTIVE To determine from MRI measurements whether soft palate length (SPL) and thickness are correlated in dogs, evaluate the association between the olfactory bulb angle (OBA) and degree of brachycephalia, and determine the correlation between soft palate-epiglottis overlap and OBA in dogs. ANIMALS 50 brachycephalic and 50 nonbrachycephalic client-owned dogs without abnormalities of the head. PROCEDURES Medical records and archived midsagittal T2-weighted MRI images of brachycephalic and nonbrachycephalic dogs' heads were reviewed. Group assignment was based on breed. Data collected included weight, SPL and thickness, OBA, and the distance between the caudal extremity of the soft palate and the basihyoid. Soft palate length and thickness were adjusted on the basis of body weight. RESULTS Brachycephalic dogs had significantly thicker soft palates and lower OBAs, compared with findings for nonbrachycephalic dogs. There was a significant negative correlation (r = 0.45) between OBA and soft palate thickness. The correlation between SPL and OBA was less profound (r = 0.09). The distance between the caudal extremity of the soft palate and the basihyoid was shorter in brachycephalic dogs than in nonbrachycephalic dogs. The percentage of epiglottis-soft palate overlap significantly decreased with increasing OBA (r = 0.31). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated that MRI images can be consistently used to assess anatomic landmarks for measurement of SPL and thickness, OBA, and soft palate-to-epiglottis distance in brachycephalic and nonbrachycephalic dogs. The percentage of epiglottis-soft palate overlap was significantly greater in brachycephalic dogs and was correlated to the degree of brachycephalia.

A five-year-old male neutered border collie presented with a soft tissue sarcoma in his right flank. CT revealed that the mass originated from the right rectus abdominis muscle. The mass was removed en bloc with 3 cm lateral margins and full-thickness abdominal wall resection. A 15 cm diameter full-thickness defect was created in the right caudal ventrolateral aspect of the abdomen, which was closed in one stage by transposition of the cranial and caudal bellies of the sartorius muscle. The recovery was favourable and the histopathology-immunohistochemistry results provided a final diagnosis of high-grade rhabdomyosarcoma and confirmed complete resection of the mass. The dog was fully ambulatory with no evidence of lameness, metastatic disease or recurrence of local disease 12 months postoperatively.