{"id":47807,"date":"2017-07-02T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-02T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imv-imaging.com\/2017\/07\/thoracic-ultrasound-article\/"},"modified":"2024-02-23T10:43:42","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T10:43:42","slug":"thoracic-ultrasound-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imv-imaging.com\/us\/2017\/07\/thoracic-ultrasound-article\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoracic Ultrasound Article"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Read Below: Thoracic Ultrasound Article<\/p>\n\n\n

Thoracic ultrasound is a diagnostic tool which can be easily utilized on farm to gain additional information about pulmonary pathology in dairy calves. The purpose of my investigation was to combine Dr Sheila McGuirk’s calf respiratory scoring chart, thoracic auscultation, and thoracic ultrasound to evaluate 15 dairy heifer calves.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Calf Respiratory Scoring Chart<\/strong><\/p>\n

The calf respiratory scoring chart was utilized as it is on farm by trained personal \u2013 assigning a score for 5 different categories: rectal temperature, cough, nasal discharge, eye scores, and nose score \u2013 and adding the numbers to end with a Total Respiratory Score for each calf.  Score values of 4 are considered an animal which needs careful observation while scores of 5 or higher requires treatment based off existing farm protocols.<\/p>\n

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Thoracic Auscultation <\/strong><\/p>\n

Thoracic auscultation has been shown in multiple studies to lack specificity and sensitivity in diagnosing pulmonary pathology but is widely used in dairy calf evaluation. To systematically evaluate the thorax through auscultation, the chest can be divided into 4 quadrants based off those used by Buczinski and her 2014 research \u201cComparison of Thoracic Auscultation, Clinical Score, and Ultrasonography as Indicators of Bovine Respiratory Disease in Preweaned Dairy Calves.\u201d For my purposes the thoracic was divided as shown below and each quadrant (A, B, C, D) on both the right and left were evaluated for presence of any abnormalities including crackles, wheezes, pleural fiction rub, absence of respiratory noise, or normal.<\/p>\n

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Thoracic Ultrasound<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ultrasound has been shown to improve specificity and sensitivity in evaluation of pulmonary pathology. Each calf in my investigation was scanned with the BCF ultrasound using a rectal probe and alcohol to flatten the hair. The thoracic images were evaluated for abnormalities including:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Presence of comet-tail artifacts<\/li>\n
  2. Number of sites with comet tail artifacts<\/li>\n
  3. Pleural fluid accumulation<\/li>\n
  4. Pleural irregularity (pleural lines separated) + depth of consolidation<\/li>\n
  5. Normal<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    One image was obtained from both the right and left as a representative image for each side of the thorax.<\/p>\n

    Respiratory Score<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
    \n

    Animal ID<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    Birth Date<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    Nasal Discharge<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    Eye or Ear (highest number)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    Cough \u2013 spontaneous or induced<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    Temperature<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    Total Respiratory Score<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

    \n

    4609<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    4-8-17<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    102.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

    		\n

    3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Thoracic Auscultation<\/strong><\/p>\n