ABSTRACT OF THE WEEK

Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association
Volume 58 | Issue 5 (September 2017)

Evaluation of thoracic radiographs as a screening test for dogs and cats admitted to a tertiary-care veterinary hospital for noncardiopulmonary disease.

Vet Radiol Ultrasound. September 2017;58(5):503-511.

Christine L Keyserling¹, Yekaterina Buriko², Bridget M Lyons³, Kenneth J Drobatz⁴, Anthony J Fischetti⁵

¹ Emergency and Critical Care, The Animal Medical Center, New York, NY, 10065.; ² Emergency and Critical Care, The Animal Medical Center, New York, NY, 10065.; ³ Department of Emergency and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19104.; ⁴ Department of Emergency and Critical Care, Section of Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19104.; ⁵ Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Animal Medical Center, New York, NY, 10065.

Abstract

Thoracic radiographs are used as a screening tool for dogs and cats with a variety of disorders that have no clinical signs associated with thoracic structures. However, this practice has never been supported by an evidence-based study. The objective of this retrospective observational study was to determine if certain canine and feline populations have a higher proportion of radiographic abnormalities, and whether any of these abnormalities are associated with patient hospitalization and outcome. Patients were excluded if current or previous examinations revealed evidence of primary respiratory or cardiac disease, malignant neoplasia, or an abnormal breathing pattern consistent with pulmonary pathology. Any notable thoracic change in the radiology report was considered important and evaluated in this study. One hundred and sixty-six of these included patients were dogs and 65 were cats. Of the 166 dog radiographs evaluated, 120 (72.3%) had normal thoracic radiographs, while 46 (27.7%) had radiographic abnormalities. Of the sixty-five cats included, 36 (55.4%) had normal radiographs, while 29 (44.6%) had abnormal radiographs. Canine patients with abnormal radiographs had a significantly higher lactate level (P-value 0.0348) and feline patients with abnormal radiographs had a significantly lower packed cell volume (P-value 0.012). A large proportion of patients that had screening thoracic radiographs (32.5%) had documented abnormalities, but a relatively low percentage (6.5%) of our total population had their clinical plan changed as a consequence of detection of these abnormalities. Findings indicated that abnormal screening thoracic radiographs are more likely in dogs with an elevated lactate and cats with anemia, or a low normal hematocrit.

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