title: Ultrasonographic appearance of adrenal glands in healthy and sick cats.
abstract: The first part of the study aimed to describe prospectively the ultrasonographic features of the adrenal glands in 94 healthy cats and 51 chronically sick cats. It confirmed the feasibility of ultrasonography of adrenal glands in healthy and chronically sick cats, which were not statistically different. The typical hypoechoic appearance of the gland surrounded by hyperechoic fat made it recognisable. A sagittal plane of the gland, not in line with the aorta, may be necessary to obtain the largest adrenal measurements. The reference intervals of adrenal measurements were inferred from the values obtained in the healthy and chronically sick cats (mean ± 0.96 SD): adrenal length was 8.9-12.5 mm; cranial height was 3.0-4.8 mm; caudal height was 3.0-4.5 mm. The second part of the study consisted of a retrospective analysis of the ultrasonographic examination of the adrenal glands in cats with adrenal diseases (six had hyperaldosteronism and four had pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism) and a descriptive comparison with the reference features obtained in the control groups from the prospective study. Cats with hyperaldosteronism presented with unilateral severely enlarged adrenal glands. However, a normal contralateral gland did not preclude a contralateral infiltration in benign or malignant adrenal neoplasms. The ultrasonographic appearance of the adrenal glands could not differentiate benign and malignant lesions. The ultrasonographic appearance of pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism was mainly a symmetrical adrenal enlargement; however, a substantial number of cases were within the reference intervals of adrenal size.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medical Imaging and Small Animal Orthopaedics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. anais.combes@ugent.be
authors.forename: Anaïs
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Combes
authors.forename: Pascaline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pey
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paepe
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Daminet
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Putcuyps
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Bedu
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duchateau
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Fornel-Thibaud
authors.forename: Ghita
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benchekroun
authors.forename: Jimmy H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Saunders
mesh_terms: D000307:Adrenal Gland Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D002415:Cats; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography