Sweers L., Kirberger R.M., Leisewitz A.L., Dormehl I.C., Killian E., Naudé F.
Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; AEC Institute for Life Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, PO Box 667, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; Biomedical Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, PO Box 667, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Sweers, L., Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Kirberger, R.M., Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Leisewitz, A.L., Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Dormehl, I.C., AEC Institute for Life Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, PO Box 667, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; Killian, E., Biomedical Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Naudé, F., Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, PO Box 667, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
The possibility of coagulopathy in Babesia canis rossi infections in the canine patient has been suggested in the literature, but minimal work has been done to evaluate the clinicopathological nature of it in further detail. Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) has not yet been implicated in canine babesiosis (CB), but may also be one of the causes of the sudden dyspnoea and tachypnoea that are frequently seen in complicated CB patients. The objective of this study was to prospectively evaluate the scintigraphic pulmonary perfusion pattern in hospitalised dogs with babesiosis in an attempt to ascertain whether a scintigraphic pattern consistent with clinically relevant PTE does indeed occur in these patients. The study consisted of a normal control group of 9 mature healthy Beagle dogs (group 1) and a Babesia group with 14 dogs of a variety of breeds that were naturally infected with Babesia (group 2). Pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy was performed after making thoracic radiographs and performing a blood gas analysis in both groups. The scintigraphic images were visually inspected for changes suggestive of PTE, but not a single dog in group 2 had pleural-based, wedge-shaped perfusion defects which would have resulted in a high probability for clinically relevant PTE. The scintigraphic pulmonary perfusion pattern demonstrated was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 1.00).
macrosalb tc 99m; animal experiment; animal model; article; Babesia; babesiosis; blood gas analysis; breeding line; controlled study; disease association; dog disease; female; image analysis; image display; lung embolism; lung perfusion; lung scintiscanning; male; nonhuman; probability; prospective study; thorax radiography; veterinary medicine; Animals; Babesia; Babesiosis; Blood Gas Analysis; Case-Control Studies; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Female; Male; Pulmonary Embolism; Radiography, Thoracic; Radionuclide Imaging; Babesia; Babesia canis rossi; Canis familiaris