Radiographic Assessment of Spleen Size and Its Relationship with Age and Sex in Healthy Dogs Referred to Tehran City Pet Clinics

Background and aim: A dog's spleen is their largest lymphatic organ, and its size can vary among dogs. Radiographic criteria for assessing spleen size or the expected range of spleen size for healthy dogs have been reported to be very low, and splenomegaly in dogs is subjectively based on changes in shape, presence of smooth margins or the view of the abdominal organ of the spleen is determined in the side view. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of radiographic variables for estimating spleen size by evaluating the relationship between spleen volume and radiographic dimension variables, and also by examining the correlation between radiographic dimension variables in different ages and sexes in healthy dogs. Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional analytical observational study. This study includes the measurement of the spleen using radiography of ۵۰ adult dogs, including ۲۶ male dogs (۵۲%) and ۲۴ female dogs (۴۸%), in ventral-dorsal and lateral view. Radiographs were prepared in DICOM format. Then the ratio of the length and width of the spleen (tail of the spleen and body of the spleen) were obtained. Two independent two-sample t-tests and Pearson's test were used to check the relationship between the variables. Results: The results showed that the male and female groups did not have a statistically significant difference in the average spleen size, and the spleen size in male dogs was not significantly greater than that in female dogs (P>۰.۰۵). The results showed that the average spleen size in dogs of different breeds (large, medium and small) was not significant (P>۰.۰۵), and statistical analysis of the findings related to age showed that there was no significant relationship between spleen size and age (P>۰.۰۵). Conclusion: The exact standards obtained in the present study can be used in the interpretation of results and clinical decisions to determine the normal and abnormal size of the spleen and its ratio with age and sex in dogs.

کلیدواژه ها:

spleen ، radiography ، dog ، طحال ، رادیوگرافی ، سگ