Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom.
Royal Veterinary College, University of London, London NW1 0TU, United Kingdom.
J Zoo Wildl Med. 2022 Mar;53(1):19-30. doi: 10.1638/2020-0229.
The mountain chicken frog () is a critically endangered species highly reliant on conservation programs. In captivity, cholelithiasis has been reported during clinical examinations using diagnostic imaging and observed during postmortem examinations. Some individuals have presented with nonspecific clinical signs potentially associated with this condition, but little is known about its clinical relevance. A retrospective evaluation of ultrasonographic ( = 139) and radiographic ( = 156) images and histopathology samples ( = 32) obtained between 2014 and 2020 from 133 individuals was performed. An ultrasound scoring system was developed to evaluate changes in the gallbladder, with 38% (53/139) of the images showing abnormal contents. Gallbladder distension appeared associated with these findings (generalized estimating equation model, < 0.001). In contrast, radiography proved to have low overall sensitivity (48%) when compared to ultrasonography for identifying abnormal gallbladder contents. A weak level of agreement (Cohen's kappa = 0.535) was observed between the imaging modalities. Histologically, cholecystitis was present in 86% (12/14) of the individuals, thickening of the gallbladder wall in 71% (10/14), and intrahepatic cholangitis in 90% (18/20). There was no evidence of cholestasis in any of the affected individuals. A significant difference was observed in the hepatic melanomacrophage density between animals with and without cholelithiasis (Welch two-sample test, < 0.001). This study provides an overview on the use of diagnostic imaging modalities to evaluate cholelithiasis and proposes a convenient ultrasound score to standardize monitoring of the condition in . It is also the first systematic review of histopathological changes associated with cholelithiasis in this species.
山鸡蛙（）是一种极度濒危的物种，高度依赖保护计划。在圈养环境中，已经在使用诊断成像进行临床检查时报告了胆石症，并在剖检时观察到了这种情况。一些个体表现出与这种情况相关的非特异性临床症状，但对其临床相关性知之甚少。对 2014 年至 2020 年间从 133 只个体中获得的 139 份超声（=139）和放射（=156）图像和组织病理学样本（=32）进行了回顾性评估。开发了一种超声评分系统来评估胆囊的变化，其中 38%（53/139）的图像显示异常内容物。胆囊扩张似乎与这些发现有关（广义估计方程模型，<0.001）。相比之下，与超声相比，放射摄影术在识别异常胆囊内容物方面的总体敏感性较低（48%）。两种成像方式之间观察到弱水平的一致性（Cohen's kappa=0.535）。组织学上，14 只个体中有 86%（12/14）存在胆囊炎，14 只个体中有 71%（10/14）存在胆囊壁增厚，20 只个体中有 90%（18/20）存在肝内胆管炎。受影响的个体中均未发现胆汁淤积。有胆石症和无胆石症的动物之间的肝黑素巨噬细胞密度存在显著差异（Welch 两样本检验，<0.001）。本研究概述了使用诊断成像方式评估胆石症，并提出了一种方便的超声评分来标准化监测该疾病。这也是该物种胆石症相关组织病理学变化的首次系统综述。
