Comparison of the sensitivity of different diagnostic tests for pancreatitis in cats.

The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity of different diagnostic tests for pancreatitis in cats. Twenty-one cats with confirmed pancreatitis were evaluated at the Small Animal Clinic of the School of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, Germany, between September 1997 and January 1999. Clinical signs of affected cats were nonspecific, with 95% of the cats showing anorexia and 86% lethargy. Also, hematologic and biochemical abnormalities of affected cats were nonspecific. Serum feline trypsin-like immunoreactivity (fTLI) in these 21 cats with pancreatitis was 127.5 +/- 109.5 microg/L (mean +/- SD; range, 24-500 microg/L). Fourteen of the 21 cats with pancreatitis had complicating conditions. Their serum fTLI was 153.9 +/- 124.3 microg/L (mean +/- SD; range, 29 500 microg/L). In this study, abdominal ultrasound showed a sensitivity for pancreatitis of 24%, and abdominal computed tomography had a sensitivity of 20%. Serum fTLI had a sensitivity between 86% when a cut-off value of 49 microg/L was used (upper limit of the control range) and 33% when a cut-off value of 100 microg/L was used. We conclude that in this group of cats with pancreatitis, measurement of serum fTLI was the most sensitive diagnostic test of those evaluated. Abdominal ultrasound, however, may be a valuable diagnostic tool in some cats with pancreatitis.

[Isolated splenic torsion in dogs with special emphasis on B-mode and color doppler sonography]. / Zur isolierten Milzdrehung beim Hund unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der B-Mode- und Farbdoppler-Sonographie.

The clinical, radiologic, sonographic and histopathologic findings of isolated splenic torsion in the dog are described with the help of eight case reports. Special emphasis is placed on the significance of B-Mode and Color Doppler Imaging which facilitated diagnosis in all of these cases. Possible causes of splenic torsion and the different diagnostic measures are discussed.

[Sonographic appearance of the canine kidney compared with pathologic-histologic morphology]. / Sonographische Erscheinungsbilder der Hundeniere im Vergleich zur pathologisch-histologischen Morphologie.

Aim of the present study was to evaluate the possibility whether the ultrasonographic appearance of the canine kidney can be attached to a specific histopathologic diagnosis. The sonographic examination was performed in 117 dogs that were presented in the Small Animal Clinic of Hannover Veterinary School, Germany, for euthanasia. After the euthanasia the kidneys were exenterated and evaluated pathohistologically in the Department of Pathology of Hannover Veterinary School. According to the sonographic changes the patients were classified into seven different groups and compared with the histopathologic findings. The results of this study demonstrate that it is currently not feasible to relate a gray-scale sonography image of a diffuse renal parenchymal alteration to a specific histopathologic diagnosis. It remains to be seen if it is possible to improve the renal ultrasonography with new diagnostic methods, e.g. color-doppler ultrasonography.