Smith Isabella A, Moses Philip A, Moses William B, Fu Jamie, Yap Xena, McGilp Daniel, Story Michelle M, Allavena Rachel
The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia.
Veterinary Specialist Services, Jindalee, Qld 4074, Australia.
Res Vet Sci. 2025 Sep;193:105733. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2025.105733. Epub 2025 Jun 6.
To compare the histological morphology of palatine tonsils from brachycephalic and normocephalic dogs.
Surgically resected palatine tonsils from 116 dogs undergoing corrective surgery for brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) were received from a veterinary specialist clinic. Control tonsils were opportunistically collected at autopsy from 11 normocephalic dogs that died of diseases unrelated to the upper respiratory tract. The tonsils were sectioned longitudinally and prepared using standard histological techniques. Digital microscopy was used to obtain standardised measurements of tonsillar epithelium and lymphoid follicles, and the means of these measurements were then compared between the two groups.
Epithelial width and lymphoid follicle area were significantly greater for brachycephalic tonsils. Mean epithelium width was 48 % thicker (p < 0.0001) and mean lymphoid follicle area was 52 % larger (p = 0.0019) for brachycephalic tonsils compared to normocephalic controls. Inflammation, indicated by neutrophil migration within the epithelium, was found in 54 % of brachycephalic tonsils but was absent in controls (p = 0.0012).
Significant histopathological differences were found in brachycephalic palatine tonsils compared to normocephalic controls. Changes identified in brachycephalic tonsils included lymphoid and epithelial hyperplasia, and neutrophilic inflammation, which we postulate are secondary to airway irritation caused by BOAS. As these pathological changes in the tonsils are potentially reversible, we hypothesise that they may resolve if the primary BOAS abnormalities are surgically corrected, rendering tonsillectomy unnecessary. Therefore, further research is needed to understand how hyperplastic tonsillar tissue responds to correction of primary BOAS abnormalities, and if tonsillectomy is a necessary component of BOAS corrective surgery.
比较短头犬和标准头型犬腭扁桃体的组织形态学。
从一家兽医专科诊所获取了116只接受短头阻塞性气道综合征（BOAS）矫正手术的犬手术切除的腭扁桃体。对照扁桃体是从11只死于与上呼吸道无关疾病的标准头型犬尸检时 opportunistically 收集的。将扁桃体纵向切片并采用标准组织学技术制备。使用数字显微镜对扁桃体上皮和淋巴滤泡进行标准化测量，然后比较两组的这些测量均值。
短头犬的扁桃体上皮宽度和淋巴滤泡面积显著更大。与标准头型对照相比，短头犬扁桃体的平均上皮宽度厚48%（p < 0.0001），平均淋巴滤泡面积大52%（p = 0.0019）。在上皮内发现中性粒细胞迁移所表明的炎症在54%的短头犬扁桃体中存在，但对照中不存在（p = 0.0012）。
与标准头型对照相比，短头犬腭扁桃体存在显著的组织病理学差异。在短头犬扁桃体中发现的变化包括淋巴组织和上皮增生以及中性粒细胞炎症，我们推测这是由BOAS引起的气道刺激继发的。由于扁桃体的这些病理变化可能是可逆的，我们假设如果原发性BOAS异常通过手术矫正，它们可能会消退，从而无需进行扁桃体切除术。因此，需要进一步研究以了解增生的扁桃体组织对原发性BOAS异常矫正的反应，以及扁桃体切除术是否是BOAS矫正手术的必要组成部分。
“opportunistically”这个词在这里不太好准确翻译，大概意思是“机会性地”，这里保留英文未完全翻译是因为直接翻译过来在中文语境里比较难理解其确切意思且表述会很生硬。
