Elastography of the Normal Canine Liver, Spleen and Kidneys

Abstract

Elastography is a simple, expedient and noninvasive technique that may be used to assess the elasticity or stiffness of a tissue, in conjunction with traditional B-mode ultrasonography. Quantitative assessment of tissue stiffness can be made which involves measurement of the shear wave velocity within the tissue of interest. The goal of this study was to assess the feasibility of elastography for clinical use in the abdomen of conscious small animals and to investigate factors that affect shear wave velocity measurement. Elastography was performed on the liver, spleen, and kidneys of 15 dogs at predefined depths within the parenchyma. Breed, age, gender, neuter status, and weight were documented for each animal. Depth at which measurements were taken had a significant negative relationship with the shear wave velocity value obtained. Individual dog effects, such as weight and gender, also appeared to have a significant effect on the shear wave velocity measurement for specific organs; weight had a significant positive effect on the shear wave velocity for each of the organs examined, whereas the effect of gender was inconsistent between organs (having a positive effect for the liver and a negative effect for the spleen). It is hoped that these results may act as a baseline to guide further work into the field of elastography in companion animals.

Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography of adrenal glands in healthy adult dogs

“…The effect of the animals' body length and width of the adrenal samples on the sheer velocity observed (decrease in 0.3 m/s for each one centimeter added in the depth and decrease in 0.26 m/s for each one centimeter added in gland size) has already been verified in previously study in veterinary for splenic evaluation Holdsworth et al (2014). These authors observed the influence of some conditions on the splenic sheer velocity in dogs; there was an increase of 0.021 m/s for every 1 kg increase in dogs' body weight and a decline by 0.197 m/s for every 1 cm increase in depth.…”

“…These authors observed the influence of some conditions on the splenic sheer velocity in dogs; there was an increase of 0.021 m/s for every 1 kg increase in dogs' body weight and a decline by 0.197 m/s for every 1 cm increase in depth. As noted in splenic elastography Holdsworth et al (2014), it is necessary to conduct a study with animals of different breeds and corporal conformation to examine the interactions of these factors on the elastographic characteristics of the canine adrenal.…”

“…The veterinary studies using this ARFI technique are recent and have been used to evaluate mammary tumors in female dogs (Feliciano et al 2014), spleen, liver and kidneys of adult dogs (Holdsworth et al 2014;Maronezi et al 2015), splenic and renal tissue in felines (Feliciano et al 2015a;Garcia et al 2015) and prostate and testicles in canines and felines (Brito et al 2015;Feliciano et al 2015b). There are no reports of the use of this technique in the evaluation of the adrenal glands of animals.…”

Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography of testicular disorders in dogs: preliminary results

“…Due to the location of the organ analysed, there was no interference from movements (i.e. respiration) that hindered the acquisition of the measurements, as cited by Holdsworth et al (2014) during abdominal elastography in dogs. This initial study provides important data on the validation of the technique in testicular diseases in dogs; however, a larger study is needed.…”

“…In Veterinary Medicine, elastography has been used in the standardization of reference values of various tissues such as feline spleen (Feliciano et al 2015b), canine spleen, liver and kidneys (Holdsworth et al 2014) and in the differentiation of mammary neoplasms in female dogs (Feliciano et al 2014). Feliciano et al (2015a) conducted the first study on the use of the ARFI technique in the evaluation and standardization of reference values for canine testicles and obtained important results on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of healthy tissues in animals from different age groups.…”