Piskovská Anna, Kraszewska Katarzyna, Hauptman Karel, Jekl Vladimír
Jekl and Hauptman Veterinary Clinic, Brno, Czechia.
Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, VETUNI, Brno, Czechia.
Front Vet Sci. 2024 Feb 19;11:1286614. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1286614. eCollection 2024.
Respiratory diseases (especially pneumonia) are very common disorders in pet rats. The suspected diagnosis is mostly based on the clinical signs, thoracic auscultation, and thoracic radiography. However, auscultation is insensitive in determining the severity of the disease, and radiographs are often unremarkable. Non-cardiac thoracic ultrasonography is increasingly used in veterinary medicine; however, it has not been described in detail in rats. Thoracic ultrasonic examination was conducted on 400 client-owned conscious pet rats. The rats were examined in the period from June 2023 to August 2023 in two veterinary clinics. Due to the small size of the animal, different anatomical considerations, and different evaluation protocols, as well as to meet the optimal outcome of detailed thoracic ultrasound, a standard methodological protocol was developed, and the name RATTUS (Rat Thoracic Ultrasound) was proposed. Typical signs of normal RATTUS were described (bat sign, lung sliding, A-lines, abdominal curtain sign, ski jump sign, lung pulse, seashore sign in M-mode, and bamboo sign). The new evaluation of lung inflation symmetry by substernal access was also described. The methodical approach presented and the normal findings description are proposed to be used for a standard/routine thoracic ultrasound examination in pet rats.
呼吸道疾病（尤其是肺炎）在宠物大鼠中是非常常见的病症。疑似诊断主要基于临床症状、胸部听诊和胸部X光检查。然而，听诊在确定疾病严重程度方面并不敏感，而且X光片通常无明显异常。非心脏胸部超声检查在兽医学中越来越常用；然而，在大鼠方面尚未有详细描述。对400只客户拥有的清醒宠物大鼠进行了胸部超声检查。这些大鼠于2023年6月至8月期间在两家兽医诊所接受检查。由于动物体型小、解剖学考虑因素不同、评估方案不同，以及为了获得详细胸部超声的最佳结果，制定了一个标准方法方案，并提出了RATTUS（大鼠胸部超声）这一名称。描述了正常RATTUS的典型征象（蝙蝠征、肺滑动、A线、腹部帷幕征、滑雪跳跃征、肺搏动、M型中的海岸征和竹征）。还描述了通过胸骨下途径对肺膨胀对称性进行的新评估。所呈现的方法和正常结果描述建议用于宠物大鼠的标准/常规胸部超声检查。
