Ultrasound Gastrointestinal Tract Part II: Ultrasonographic thickening of the muscularis propria in feline small intestinal small cell T-cell lymphoma and inflammatory bowel disease
Course Content
Topic: Ultrasound Gastrointestinal Tract Part II: Ultrasonographic thickening of the muscularis propria in feline small intestinal small cell T-cell lymphoma and inflammatory bowel disease
Gastrointestinal lymphoma is the most common form of lymphoma in the cat. More recently, an ultrasonographic pattern associated with feline small cell T-cell gastrointestinal lymphoma has been recognized as a diffuse thickening of the muscularis propria of the small intestine. This pattern is also described with feline inflammatory bowel disease.
The mean thickness of the muscularis propria in cats with lymphoma or IBD was twice the thickness of that of healthy cats, and was the major contributor to significant overall bowel wall thickening in the duodenum and jejunum. A muscularis to submucosa ratio >1 is indicative of an abnormal bowel segment. Colic lymph nodes in cats with lymphoma were increased in size compared with healthy cats. In cats with gastrointestinal lymphoma and histologic transmural infiltration of the small intestines, colic or jejunal lymph nodes were rounded, increased in size and hypoechoic.
- What are the major GI ultrasonographic finding in intestinal segments with T-cell lymphoma and IBD in feline patients?
- Once abnormal thickening of this intestinal layer is recognized, can it serve as a biomarker to indicate the need for further diagnostics, such as biopsy of the small intestine so as to confirm the diagnosis of lymphoma or IBD?
- Which is the most common location of the intestine for GI lymphoma and which for IBD in cats?
Maurizio Longo
Dr. Maurizio Longo graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Milan in 2011. After a rotating and Imaging internship at the Istituto Veterinario di Novara, he was enrolled in a PhD program on soft tissue sarcomas, completed in 2016 (Doctor Europaeus). He completed a residency in Diagnostic Imaging at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies – University of Edinburgh in November 2019 and is now a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging. He has a strong interest in research especially focused on the urinary tract, neurodegenerative, oncological and cardiovascular diseases. He is author and co-Author of several peer-reviewed publications and reviewers for different scientific journals. He is co-founder and Head of the Diagnostic Imaging of the C.T.O. Veterinario located in Arenzano (Genova – ITALY) since 2014. He works as a staff radiologist for the Teleradiology company Antech Imaging Services for which he covers also an Adjunct Professorship position at the University of Milan. He is also active in national and international congresses. He was awarded as co-Author of the 2014 EVDI Best Poster Presentation in Utrecht, co-Author of the best case report in 2019 Journal of Veterinary Cardiology, co-Author of the best study in 2019 Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia and co-Author of the best presentation at the 2018 ECVIM Conference held in Milan.