Keywords
Abstract
The liver acts in important physiological processes and also has regeneration potential, participating in homeostasis by storing important substances for the balance and maintenance of life. Liver changes observed by ultrasound can be focal, multifocal or diffuse and such changes can affect changes in size, echotexture and echogenicity of the organ. Diffuse lesions in the liver parenchyma are nonspecific, as the liver may present increased or decreased echogenicity in different pathologies. The most common laboratory evaluations in clinical routine in dogs to evaluate possible liver injuries or dysfunction are measurements of the activity of the enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (AF), as well as measurement of severe albumin. The objective of the study was to determine possible associations between the main diffuse liver lesions diagnosed using B-mode ultrasonography and biochemical changes in the canine species. For this purpose, ultrasound reports of patients with diffuse liver lesions and laboratory test results were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into four groups according to ultrasound changes: hepatomegaly with diffuse increase in echogenicity, normal-sized liver with decreased echogenicity, normal-sized or reduced liver with diffuse increase in echogenicity, and hepatomegaly with decreased echogenicity. The biochemical variables used were a greater than three-fold increase in the activity of ALT and FA enzymes (ALT3x and FA3x) and hypoalbuminemia. To associate biochemical variables with the aforementioned ultrasound changes, the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were used, adopting a significance level of 5% for all tests. There was only a significant association between FA3x and the ultrasound change of hepatomegaly with diffuse increase in echogenicity. It was possible to conclude that the main diffuse liver lesions are efficient by B-mode ultrasound in dogs, only those that occur with cholestasis and that are represented by hepatomegaly with a diffuse increase in echogenicity were associated with a significant increase in the activity of the FA enzyme.