B-Mode and Doppler ocular ultrasound evaluation in healthy and positive dogs for visceral canine leishmaniasis

ABSTRACT

Background: The use of ultrasound examination in the evaluation of ophthalmopathies has been gaining more and more space within the ophthalmologic clinical routine. The hemodynamic study of ocular vascularization may anticipate future changes, aiding in the adequate establishment of therapeutic conduits. The objective of this study was to evaluate the structures of the ocular bulb and to perform the hemodynamic evaluation of the flow of the external ophthalmic artery of dogs with canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) correlating with healthy animals. Materials, Methods & Results: For this purpose, 100 animals were used, of these 70 positive for CVL and 30 healthy animals, submitted to B-mode and Doppler ultrasound examination. Two-dimensional evaluation included identification of ocular changes and biometry of the following segments axial length (M1), anterior chamber depth (M2), lens thickness (M3), lens length (M4), glass chamber depth (M5), optical disc length (M6) and optic nerve length (M7). The Doppler velocimetric evaluation included the identification and hemodynamic evaluation of the external ophthalmic artery, being measured systolic peak velocity (SPV), final diastolic velocity (FDV), resistivity index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI). Ophthalmopathies were frequent in animals with leishmaniasis in both right (91.42%) and left (29.14%) eyes, with identification of capsular cataract, lens dislocation, retinal detachment and lens rupture. No significant statistical difference (P > 0.05) was observed when comparing the biometric values between the right and left eyes of the animals with CVL, as well as for the measurements between healthy and CVL animals. Hemodynamic indexes of the flow of the external ophthalmic artery presented narrow limits for the right and left eyes of the positive animals, not statistically...