Departament de Medicina I Cirurgia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Travessera dels Turons, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain.
Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 108, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Acta Vet Scand. 2022 Aug 13;64(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s13028-022-00638-x.
The computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography (US) features of lymph nodes of the abdomen, pelvis, and hindlimb in healthy cats are poorly described in the current literature. A prospective anatomic and reference interval study was therefore performed. The lymph nodes of six feline cadavers were identified, and dimensions were measured (length, width, and height). The lymph nodes from 30 healthy adult cats were identified and measured using CT (pre- and postcontrast) and US. The identification and dimensions of the separate lymph nodes were compared between imaging techniques and the anatomic study.
The identification of lymph nodes was most frequent in CT, and the dimensions were overall larger than those identified and measured in US and the anatomic study. The caudal epigastric and sacral lymph nodes were not identified in the anatomic study. The ischiatic, lumbar aortic, internal iliac, and caudal epigastric lymph nodes were not visualized in US. The height presented the main statistical differences among techniques. The lymph nodes were mainly homogeneous in pre- and postcontrast CT and US images. Some lymph nodes showed a hyperattenuating periphery with a hypoattenuating center (on pre- and postcontrast images) and a hypo-/isoechoic periphery with a hyperechoic center, representing the hilar fat. The lymph nodes were commonly elongated and rounded except for the jejunal lymph nodes, which had an irregular shape.
The assessment of most of the abdominal, pelvic, and hindlimb lymph nodes in the cat is feasible using CT and US, with CT performing best. Factors like the amount of adipose tissue and contrast administration subjectively improved the lymph node visualization and assessment. The measurements and features reported are proposed as reference values.
目前文献中对健康猫腹部、骨盆和后肢淋巴结的计算机断层扫描（CT）和超声（US）特征描述甚少。因此进行了一项前瞻性解剖和参考区间研究。确定了 6 只猫尸体的淋巴结，并测量了其尺寸（长度、宽度和高度）。使用 CT（增强前后）和 US 对 30 只健康成年猫的淋巴结进行了识别和测量。比较了影像学技术和解剖研究中对单独淋巴结的识别和测量结果。
在 CT 中最常识别到淋巴结，其尺寸总体大于 US 和解剖研究中识别和测量的尺寸。在解剖研究中未识别到尾腹侧和荐骨淋巴结。坐骨、腰主动脉、髂内和尾腹侧淋巴结在 US 中不可见。高度在技术之间存在主要的统计学差异。增强前后 CT 和 US 图像中的淋巴结主要呈均匀性。一些淋巴结表现为边缘高信号、中心低信号（增强前后图像）和边缘低信号/等信号、中心高信号，代表门部脂肪。淋巴结通常呈长圆形，除了空肠淋巴结，其形状不规则。
使用 CT 和 US 可以对猫的大多数腹部、骨盆和后肢淋巴结进行评估，CT 效果最佳。脂肪量和造影剂给药等因素可主观改善淋巴结的可视化和评估。报告的测量值和特征被提议作为参考值。
