Ultrasound as a diagnostic tool in the investigation of a pony with intestinal lymphoma

Abstract

Summary A 21‐year‐old New Forest pony presented for evaluation of lethargy and colic. Transcutaneous abdominal ultrasonography revealed a cavitary, thick walled, mass‐like lesion that appeared continuous with the small intestine. The thick walls of the mass‐like lesion were of heterogeneous echogenicity with hyperechoic foci extending from the hyperechoic luminal surface to within the wall and there was loss of normal wall layering. These findings were confirmed grossly at exploratory celiotomy and histopathological examination of affected tissues confirmed lymphoma. The ultrasound findings facilitated a preoperative presumptive diagnosis that allowed informed decision‐making and aided case management.

Intestinal Lymphoma in a Halla Horse

“…Various diagnostic efforts were made for the present case, which included a thorough general physical examination, rectal examination, CBC and chemistries, gastroscopy, chest and abdominal x-rays and ultrasound imaging. Although each piece of information provided valuable clues for a presumptive diagnosis of chronic inflammatory bowel disease with or without an intestinal tumor, ultrasound imaging was the most useful diagnostic tool to assist in diagnosing intestinal tumor, as stated above and elsewhere (7,9). The wall of the small intestine consisted of five wall layers of the mucosal interface, mucosa, submucosa, muscularis, and serosa.…”

“…The wall of the small intestine consisted of five wall layers of the mucosal interface, mucosa, submucosa, muscularis, and serosa. Nevertheless, they are not readily visible on ultrasound imaging when it is 2-3 mm thick, but deviations from the normal wall structure, wall thickening with changes in echogenicity may be observed by sonogram (1,7). For the present case, obtaining better quality ultrasound images was challenging because of the nature of the thick hair coat and abundant sebum of the Halla Horse, even though the image quality was sufficient to provide a presumptive diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease as the small intestinal thickening is most prominent in horses with lymphoma (4,9).…”

Giant Duodenal Diverticulum Associated with Lymphoma in a Dog

“…Although the primary malignancy has been reported to occur in diverticulum of the ileum (Ablin et al, 1991), a diverticulum found in other segments is presumed to be secondary to malignancy (Nael et al, 2014). In the veterinary literature, there have been two reports of diverticula with malignancy in the jejunum in 4 horses (Mair et al, 2011;Sherlock et al, 2017). According to the report by Mair et al (2011), a diverticulum measuring about 10 cm was found at autopsy after euthanasia in a horse that had previously undergone surgical exploration of the abdomen at which time no evidence of lymphoma or diverticulum had been found; the diagnosis was T-cell lymphoma by immunohisto-chemistry following fullthickness biopsy to investigate malabsorption in the small intestine.…”