Department of Surgical Oncology, VCA West Coast Specialty and Emergency Animal Hospital, Fountain Valley, California, USA.
Sydney School of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, New South Wales, Australia.
Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2023 May;64(3):402-410. doi: 10.1111/vru.13216. Epub 2023 Feb 1.
Ruptures of pulmonary blebs and bullae are the most common cause of spontaneous pneumothorax in dogs. Incidental bullae/blebs have been documented in otherwise healthy people, however information for veterinary patients is currently lacking. Objectives of this retrospective, observer agreement, analytical study were to characterize incidental bullae in thoracic CT studies of dogs, assess interobserver variability for characterizing the bullae, and assess anesthesia risks. Inclusion criteria were dogs presenting for non-pneumothorax related reasons that had a thoracic CT at a single specialty and emergency hospital from 2012 to 2021 and had a bulla listed in the CT report. Medical records for dogs meeting inclusion criteria were reviewed to collect data on signalment, weight, total number of general anesthesia procedures 2 years prior and 2 years following the CT scan, and adverse anesthesia events. In addition, the CT images were reviewed by three American College of Veterinary Radiology-certified veterinary radiologists to collect data on the location, size, number of bullae and thickness of the bulla wall. A total of 1119 dogs met initial inclusion criteria and 74 dogs were included in analyses. There was no sex predilection for incidental pulmonary bullae. Bullae were more commonly found in older (median age 11.3 years), large breed dogs (median weight 20.7 kg). A solitary bulla of less than 1 cm was the most common finding with no apparent predilection for a particular lung lobe. There was strong correlation among the three radiologists for bulla location, size, and number, but weak correlations for bulla wall thickness. No adverse anesthesia events were found following CT anesthesia or following repetitive anesthesia procedures.
肺大疱和肺疱破裂是犬自发性气胸的最常见原因。在其他方面健康的人中，偶然发现肺疱/大疱，但目前兽医患者的信息还很缺乏。本回顾性、观察者一致性、分析性研究的目的是描述犬胸部 CT 研究中偶然发现的肺疱，评估用于描述肺疱的观察者间变异性，并评估麻醉风险。纳入标准是因非气胸相关原因就诊、在一家专业和急诊医院进行了胸部 CT 检查且 CT 报告中列出了肺疱的犬。符合纳入标准的犬的病历被回顾，以收集关于年龄、体重、CT 扫描前 2 年和后 2 年的全身麻醉程序总数以及麻醉不良事件的数据。此外，三位美国兽医放射学会认证的兽医放射科医生还对 CT 图像进行了回顾，以收集关于肺疱位置、大小、数量和肺疱壁厚度的数据。共有 1119 只犬符合初始纳入标准，其中 74 只犬纳入分析。偶然发现的肺疱无性别倾向。肺疱更常见于年龄较大（中位年龄 11.3 岁）、体型较大的犬（中位体重 20.7 公斤）。最常见的发现是小于 1cm 的单个肺疱，没有特定肺叶的明显倾向。三位放射科医生在肺疱位置、大小和数量方面的相关性很强，但在肺疱壁厚度方面的相关性很弱。CT 麻醉或重复麻醉程序后均未发现麻醉不良事件。
