Vet World   Vol.16   January-2023  Article-12

The use of ultrasonographic adrenal dimensions and the adrenal dimension-to-aorta ratio in the diagnosis of benign and malignant adrenal diseases in dogs

Background and Aim: Ultrasound (US) is a useful tool for detecting adrenal abnormalities. However, a definite reference range differentiating normal and diseased adrenal glands in dogs of varying body sizes is still lacking. The organ dimension-to-aorta (Ao) ratio of the dogs is correlated with their body weight (BW). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the adrenal dimensions, including adrenal pole thickness and adrenal length, as well as the adrenal dimension-to-Ao ratio, to differentiate between dogs with normal, benign lesions such as pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism (PDH) and malignant invasive adrenal tumors.

Materials and Methods: The medical records and US images of 39 dogs that were either normal (normal) (n = 15) or affected by PDH (n = 15) or malignant invasive adrenal tumors (tumor) (n = 9) were retrieved in this study. All the dogs had a transabdominal US on the sagittal plane. The adrenal dimensions and luminal Ao diameter at the peak of the systolic phase were recorded. The average adrenal dimensions, including the adrenal dimension-to-Ao ratio, were compared among the groups.

Results: Most of the dogs in each group were small-breed dogs with comparable ages, BW, and Ao values. Both adrenal dimensions and the adrenal dimension-to-Ao ratio were significantly lower in the normal group than in the PDH and tumor groups. To differentiate the PDH group from the tumor group, adrenal dimensions of pole thickness and length were more appropriate than the adrenal dimension-to-Ao ratio.

Conclusion: Adrenal dimensions and the adrenal dimension-to-Ao ratio can be used to diagnose adrenal diseases. However, in small-breed dogs, adrenal dimensions are suitable for differentiating PDH from tumor groups. Further research is required with a larger sample size and a wider range of canine body sizes. Keywords: adrenal, aorta, dogs, hyperadrenocorticism, tumor, ultrasound.

Keywords: adrenal, aorta, dogs, hyperadrenocorticism, tumor, ultrasound.

How to cite this article: Srisowanna N, Thanaboonnipat C, Pisamai S, Komin K, and Choisunirachon N (2023) The use of ultrasonographic adrenal dimensions and the adrenal dimension-to-aorta ratio in the diagnosis of benign and malignant adrenal diseases in dogs, Veterinary World, 16(1): 104–110.

Received: 13-09-2022  Accepted: 05-12-2022     Published online: 12-01-2023

Corresponding author: Nan Choisunirachon   E-mail: nan.c@chula.ac.th

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.104-110

Copyright: Srisowanna, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.