Aplicações dos Exames Radiográfico e Ultrassonográfico para Análise e Diagnóstico das Hepatopatias em Cães.

Abstract

The liver is an organ that plays an essential role for the proper functioning of the animal organism. Functions such as storage, metabolization and production of substances necessary in biological processes make it considered a fundamental organ for maintaining the health and development of the individual. The objective of this work was to describe the main hepatobiliary changes that can be seen through radiographic and ultrasound examinations in dogs, and thereby assist students and professionals in the field on the subject. For this, a qualitative narrative literature review was carried out, using as a basis the analysis of literature of books, scientific articles, dissertations and theses published between 2010 and 2020, to obtain the construction of an updated database about the subject. Liver diseases in dogs can have different origins, including infectious, inflammatory, toxic, metabolic, degenerative, circulatory and neoplastic, and the extent to which these injuries are established and advance through the organ, their functions can be compromised generating greater consequences, being the worse, liver failure. In addition to specific diseases of the liver parenchyma, the biliary tree, responsible for the drainage and movement of substances that communicate between the liver and the vesicle, can also be affected by diseases. The compromise of these structures is usually caused by anomalies, inflammations or obstructions by stones, which can lead to serious complications that require surgical intervention for correction. The early diagnosis of liver disease in dogs can be difficult to obtain since patients have only nonspecific signs. Some methods can and should be used to gather information about pathologies, among them, complementary techniques such as measurement of liver enzymes indicating the presence or absence of lesions in liver tissue cells, and imaging techniques that include imaging tests such as x-rays and ultrasound. The radiographic examination is effective mainly in the assessment of liver dimensions and the presence of possible foci of mineralization, whereas ultrasonography is very efficient in the evaluation of the liver as it describes characteristics that involve everything from the conformation of the organ to its hemodynamic profile, being reveal and specify the exact location of the damage, thus showing itself as the most requested imaging diagnostic method during the veterinary clinical routine.