Computed Tomography of the Prostate Gland in Healthy Intact Dogs and Dogs with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Abstract

To date, there is only scarce data on the evaluation of the prostate gland in dogs using computed tomography (CT). The aims of our study were to describe CT features of BPH in dogs and to determine the size of the prostate gland in healthy male dogs and dogs with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) through CT. Additionally, we aimed to compare and establish the most useful parameters for CT measurements of the prostate in patients with BPH. The study population consisted of 20 healthy intact male dogs and 20 male intact dogs with confirmed BPH. Pre- and post-contrast CT studies were evaluated. The most common CT features in dogs with recognized BPH were symmetrical prostatomegaly and heterogeneity of the prostatic parenchyma. The mean prostatic density (D) was 56HU (±4.39) in pre-contrast CT images and 84HU (±8) in post-contrast images in dogs with BPH. The mean prostatic length (L) was 43.87 mm (±11), the mean width (W) amounted to 48.95 mm (±8.76) and the mean height (H) reached 44.9 mm (±9.48) in clinically affected patients. The mean ratios were: rL - 2,12 (±0.5); rW - 2.39 (±0.53) and rH - 2.16 (±0.39) in the BPH group. The prostate should be considered to be enlarged when rL exceeds 3.05; rW exceeds 3.38 and rH exceeds 2.94. Our findings indicated that CT is a useful tool in diagnosing prostate disorders, including BPH. The heterogeneity, density and ratios of prostatic length, width and height can be useful parameters in the diagnosis of BPH.

Computed tomography: a beneficial diagnostic tool for the evaluation of the canine prostate?

“…Schwarz et al described the prostate tissue of a benign hyperplasia (BPH) in the CT as a heterogeneous parenchyma compared to the healthy gland [28]. Similar findings were described by Pasikowska et al [18] who found that 75% of the patients with BPH had an inhomogeneous prostate and a mean age of 9 years. Additionally, cysts were often associated with the BPH [29].…”

“…Lee et al [15] and Pasikowska et al [18] used CT for evaluating the canine prostate gland. Both research groups came to the conclusion that CT is a beneficial tool for evaluating the morphology of the prostate.…”

“…Accordingly, CT examination is considered as a helpful tool for evaluating the canine prostate gland [17]. However, only few studies have used CT to further investigate its diagnostic benefits for examining the prostate in dogs [15, 18]. …”

“…Developing this CT imaging approach further, Pasikowska et al [18] examined the prostatic size, the ratio of the height, length and width and attenuation values of the prostate in 40 dogs according to the prostate health status. The attenuation values of the prostate tissue in dogs with BPH were lower in the pre- and post-contrast images than in the healthy dogs.…”

Structural Patterns of Immunoreactivity to Cytokeratin 18 in Normal Prostate and Benign Prostate Hyperplasia: Global and Local Differences

“…Rather, it is necessary to consider what others suggest in the sense that benign prostatic hyperplasia is heterogeneous in terms of tissue morphometry and expression of single important genes. This finding limits the use of a single biopsy based markers to predict biological behavior, and has significant impact on the ability of distinguishing longitudinal changes in tissue composition from sampling artifacts [51].…”