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Ultrasonographic measurement of the adrenal gland in neonatal foals: reliability of the technique and assessment of variation in healthy foals during the first five days of life.
Abstract: Adrenal gland ultrasonographic measurements are useful in clinical evaluation of patients with adrenal dysfunction in several species. In human healthy neonates, the ultrasonographic size of the adrenal glands decreases during the first days of life. Ultrasonography of adrenal glands was demonstrated to be feasible in neonatal foals. The aims of this study were to describe a technique for ultrasonographic measurement of adrenal gland size to test its reliability in neonatal foals, and to assess any variation of ultrasonographic measurements during the first five days of life in healthy foals. Methods: First, measurements of the adrenal glands were retrospectively obtained by three observers in 26 adrenal gland images of 13 healthy and sick neonatal foals. The interobserver and intraobserver agreement were tested. Later, adrenal gland ultrasonographic images and measurements were acquired by one operator in 11 healthy neonatal foals at one, three and five days of life and differences among the measurements obtained at the different time points were assessed. Results: Interobserver agreement ranged from fair to excellent (0.48-0.92), except for cortex width (<0.4); intraobserver agreement ranged from good to excellent (0.52-0.98). No significant differences were found among the measurements obtained at one, three and five days of life. Conclusions: Adrenal glands ultrasonographic measurements can be obtained consistently in equine neonates, and in contrast to people they do not vary during the first five days of life in healthy foals.
© British Veterinary Association 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Publication Date: 2020-10-06 PubMed ID: 33024010DOI: 10.1136/vr.106027Google Scholar: Lookup The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Comparative Study
- Journal Article
Summary
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This research examines the reliability of using ultrasonography to measure adrenal gland size in newly born foals, and also investigates if the size of such glands changes over the first five days of these newborns’ lives. Results show that this technique can reliably be applied to equine neonates, with no significant variation in gland size over the initial five-day period.
Technique Description
- The researchers used ultrasonography, a medical imaging technique that uses high frequency sound waves to create images of internal body structures. In this study, the focus was on the adrenal glands of newborn foals.
Reliability Assessment
- To determine the reliability of this method, scans of adrenal glands from 13 foals (both healthy and sick) were evaluated by three different observers. This was done to assess both interobserver agreement (consistency of measurements between different individuals) and intraobserver agreement (consistency of measurements by the same individual at different times).
- The results showed fair to excellent agreement for interobserver measurements, and good to excellent agreement for intraobserver measurements. The only inconsistency was recorded in the cortex width measurement where interobserver agreement was less than 0.4.
Variation Assessment
- Another part of this study examined possible variations in adrenal gland size during the first five days of life in healthy foals. The adrenal gland ultrasonography of 11 healthy foals were conducted at one, three, and five days after birth. The results showed no significant difference in the measurements across these points in time.
Conclusion
- The results suggest that ultrasonography provides a consistent method for measuring adrenal gland size in equine neonates. Contrasting with humans, in newborn foals, the size of the adrenal glands did not show any measurable changes during the first five days of life.
Cite This Article
APA
Lauteri E, Mariella J, Beccati F, De Graaf-Roelfsema E, Castagnetti C, Pepe M, Peric T, Barbato O, Montillo M, Rouge S, Freccero F.
(2020).
Ultrasonographic measurement of the adrenal gland in neonatal foals: reliability of the technique and assessment of variation in healthy foals during the first five days of life.
Vet Rec, 187(12), e117.
https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.106027 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy eleonoralauteri@gmail.com.
- Clinèquine, VetAgro Sup, University of Lyon, Marcy-l'Etoile, France.
- Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Ozzano dell'Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
- Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
- Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Ozzano dell'Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
- Health Science and Technologies Interdepartmental Center for Industrial Research (HST-ICIR), University of Bologna, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
- Department of Food Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
- Department of Food Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
- Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Ozzano dell'Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
MeSH Terms
- Adrenal Glands / diagnostic imaging
- Animals
- Animals, Newborn / physiology
- Female
- Horse Diseases / diagnostic imaging
- Horses
- Reproducibility of Results
- Ultrasonography / veterinary
Conflict of Interest Statement
Competing interests: None declared.
Citations
This article has been cited 1 times.- Lauteri E, Mariella J, Beccati F, Roelfsema E, Castagnetti C, Pepe M, Peric T, Barbato O, Montillo M, Rouge S, Freccero F. Adrenal Gland Ultrasonographic Measurements and Plasma Hormone Concentrations in Clinically Healthy Newborn Thoroughbred and Standardbred Foals. Animals (Basel) 2021 Jun 19;11(6).
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