Heo Seonghun, Hwang Taesung, Lee Hee Chun
Institute of Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Korea.
J Vet Sci. 2018 Nov 30;19(6):840-845. doi: 10.4142/jvs.2018.19.6.840.
The purpose of this study was to propose a standard for differentiation between normal dogs and patients with hyperadrenocorticism (HAC) by measuring skin thickness via ultrasonography in small breed dogs. Significant changes in skin thickness of patients treated with prednisolone (PDS) or patients with HAC treated with trilostane were evaluated. Skin thickness was retrospectively measured on three abdominal digital images obtained from small breed dogs weighing ＜ 15 kg that underwent abdominal ultrasonography. Mean skin thickness of normal dogs was 1.03 ± 0.25 mm (mean ± SD). Both the HAC and PDS groups showed significantly thinner skin than that in the normal group. Seven of the 10 HAC patients treated with trilostane had increased skin thickness. The area under the curve value of 0.807 was based on the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve for differentiating normal dogs from HAC patients. Sensitivity was 76% and specificity was 73% when skin thickness was less than the 0.83 mm cutoff value. In conclusion, measurement of skin thickness in small breed dogs by using ultrasonography is likely to provide clinical information useful in differentiating HAC patients from normal dogs. However, exposure to PDS, trilostane, and other conditions may have a significant effect on skin thickness.
本研究的目的是通过超声测量小型犬的皮肤厚度，提出一种区分正常犬和肾上腺皮质功能亢进（HAC）患者的标准。评估了接受泼尼松龙（PDS）治疗的患者或接受曲洛司坦治疗的HAC患者皮肤厚度的显著变化。回顾性测量了体重＜15 kg的小型犬腹部超声检查时获得的三张腹部数字图像上的皮肤厚度。正常犬的平均皮肤厚度为1.03±0.25 mm（平均值±标准差）。HAC组和PDS组的皮肤均明显比正常组薄。10例接受曲洛司坦治疗的HAC患者中有7例皮肤厚度增加。曲线下面积值0.807基于区分正常犬和HAC患者的受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线。当皮肤厚度小于0.83 mm临界值时，敏感性为76%，特异性为73%。总之，通过超声测量小型犬的皮肤厚度可能会提供有助于区分HAC患者和正常犬的临床信息。然而，接触PDS、曲洛司坦和其他情况可能会对皮肤厚度产生显著影响。
