DAVIS/CA, April 19th (Biermann) – In their study, Dr. Allison L. Zwingenberger from the Department of Surgery and Radiological Sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of California in Davis, CA, and her colleagues looked at histological diagnoses and correlating ultrasonographic examinations in 56 cats with normal small intestine (SI), 62 with lymphoma and 24 with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). All records date back from 1998 to 2006. The requirements included an ultrasonographic exam of less than 28 days before surgery and no ultrasonographic evidence of a mass. The researchers performed a multinomial regression analysis to determine the association of muscularis propria thickening and lymphadenopathy with disease status.

The results demonstrated that cats with a thickened muscularis propria that was detected by ultrasonography suffered more likely from a lymphoma, compared to cats with normal SI (odds ratio [OR] = 4.0; 95% CI 1.2-13.1, P = .021) and those with IBD (OR = 18.8; 95% CI 2.2-162.7; P = .008). Histologically, the mucosal and submucosal layers of areas affected by muscularis propria thickening were more likely to be infiltrated (OR = 8.1; 95% CI 1.7-38.4; P =.008) than cats with normal SI. If there was ultrasonographic evidence of lymphadenopathy, the cats were more likely to have a diagnosis of lymphoma (OR = 44.9; 95% CI 5.1-393.0; P = .001) or IBD (OR = 10.8; 95% CI 1.1-106.3; P = .041) in comparison to cats with normal SI. Almost 90% (n =56) of 62 cats had confirmed or presumptive diagnosis of diffuse T-cell lymphoma.

Dr. Zwingenberger and her associates noticed that older cats with thickening of the muscularis propria were more likely to have T-cell lymphoma than IBD. The ultrasonographic pattern is associated with histologic infiltrates in the mucosal and submucosal layers of the small intestine. Lymphadenopathy is associated with lymphoma or IBD.

References

• J. Vet. Intern. Med. 24(2):289-292