Effect of Screening Abdominal Ultrasound Examination on the Decision to Pursue Advanced Diagnostic Tests and Treatment in Dogs with Neurologic Disease

Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine

N.M. Tong²  A.L. Zwingenberger¹  W.H. Blair²  S.L. Taylor³  R.X. Chen³ 

[1]Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, University of California School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, CA

[2]William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, CA

[3]Clinical and Translational Science Center, School of Medicine, University of California, Sacramento, CA

关键词: Ultrasonography;    Magnetic resonance imaging;    Computed tomography;    Myelogram;   

DOI  :  10.1111/jvim.12602

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Background

Abdominal ultrasound examinations (AUS) are commonly performed before advanced neurodiagnostics to screen for diseases that might affect diagnostic plans and prognosis.

Objectives

Describe the type and frequency of abnormalities found by AUS in dogs presenting with a neurological condition, identify risk factors associated with abnormalities, and evaluate treatment decisions based on findings.

Animals

Seven hundred and fifty-nine hospitalized dogs.

Methods

Retrospective study. Medical records of dogs presented from 2007 to 2009 for neurologic disease were searched for signalment, neuroanatomic localization, and AUS findings. Whether dogs had advanced neurodiagnostics and treatment was analyzed.

Results

Fifty-eight percent of dogs had abnormal findings on AUS. Probability of abnormalities increased with age (P < 0.001). Nondachshund breeds had higher probability of abnormal AUS than dachshunds (odds ratio [OR] = 1.87). Eleven percent of dogs did not have advanced neurodiagnostics and in 1.3%, this was because of abnormal AUS. Dogs with ultrasonographic abnormalities were less likely than dogs without to have advanced neurodiagnostics (OR = 0.3 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.17, 0.52]), however, the probability of performing advanced diagnostics was high regardless of normal (OR = 0.95 [95% CI: 0.92, 0.97]) or abnormal (OR = 0.85 [95% CI: 0.81, 0.88]) AUS. Treatment was more often pursued in small dogs and less often in dogs with brain disease.

Conclusions and Clinical Importance

Findings from screening AUS had a small negative effect on the likelihood of pursuing advanced neurodiagnostics. Although it should be included in the extracranial diagnostic workup in dogs with significant history or physical examination abnormalities, AUS is considered a low-yield diagnostic test in young dogs and dachshunds.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC   
Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.