Sary Ramadan, Khalil Karim, Sindi Ramya A, Mohamed Ragab H, Hussein Hassan A, Eid Refaat A, Samir Haney, Alkahtani Mohammed M, Swelum Ayman A, Ahmed Ahmed E
Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Applied and Health Sciences, A'Sharqiyah University, Ibra, Oman.
Front Vet Sci. 2022 Jun 22;9:899570. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.899570. eCollection 2022.
Decreasing male fertility encouraged the investigators to innovate accurate diagnostic non-invasive methods for detection of changes in the testicular parenchyma. Ultrasonography (US) has the potential to be used in this manner for decades, but magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is still of limited application in animals for this purpose. The current study was designed to describe appearances and quantitative MRI attributes of the normal testes, epididymis besides angiography of testicular artery in camels. About 30 apparently healthy male dromedary camels aged 8-14 years were slaughtered during the rutting season. Immediately after slaughtering, the male gonads ( = 30 pairs of testicles and epididymis) were subjected to morphometric evaluation using a Vernier caliper and ultrasound scanning. Epididymial sperms were evaluated for motility, vitality and abnormality. MRI was performed for testes (=16) by using a 1.5T Excite-II MRI apparatus of Sigma. Radiography and angioarchitecture of testicular artery (=24) were done. Camel testicular length, width, and depth showed non-significant differences between a Vernier caliper or sonar. The MRI results revealed that both the testis and epididymis have homogenously intermediate signal (T1) and testes have hyperintense signal, with slightly lower signal in the epididymis (T2). In conclusion, both the ultrasonography and MRI techniques, with each respective computer-assisted imaging, could be used to detect the histomorphological changes of the camels' testicles. However, US imaging remains the first diagnostic technique for evaluating the reproductive health in men for its lower cost and accuracy. MRI is beneficial when the sonograms are inconclusive and/or equivocal. It shows the examined tissues in greater anatomical details compared to ultrasonography. Further studies are needed to compare between characteristics of US and MRI of normal testes and epididymis with testicular artery angiography in living camel during rut season and non-rut season and between normal healthy and affected diseased genitalia.
男性生育能力下降促使研究人员创新出用于检测睾丸实质变化的准确诊断性非侵入性方法。超声检查（US）有潜力以这种方式使用数十年，但磁共振成像（MRI）在动物身上用于此目的的应用仍然有限。当前的研究旨在描述骆驼正常睾丸、附睾的外观和定量MRI特征以及睾丸动脉血管造影情况。在发情季节宰杀了约30头8至14岁、外表健康的雄性单峰骆驼。宰杀后立即使用游标卡尺对雄性性腺（30对睾丸和附睾）进行形态学评估并进行超声扫描。对附睾精子进行活力、存活率和异常情况评估。使用Sigma的1.5T Excite-II MRI设备对16个睾丸进行MRI检查。对24个睾丸动脉进行放射摄影和血管构筑分析。骆驼睾丸的长度、宽度和深度在游标卡尺测量和超声检查之间无显著差异。MRI结果显示，睾丸和附睾在T1加权像上均呈均匀中等信号，睾丸在T2加权像上呈高信号，附睾信号略低。总之，超声检查和MRI技术，结合各自的计算机辅助成像，均可用于检测骆驼睾丸的组织形态学变化。然而，超声成像因其成本较低和准确性高，仍然是评估男性生殖健康的首选诊断技术。当超声图像不确定和/或不明确时，MRI是有益的。与超声检查相比，它能更详细地显示被检查组织。需要进一步研究比较在发情季节和非发情季节活骆驼中正常睾丸和附睾的超声和MRI特征以及睾丸动脉血管造影情况，以及正常健康和患病生殖器之间的情况。
