Vet World   Vol.12   June-2019  Article-10

Clinical and ultrasonographic investigations of 30 water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) with hepatomegaly

Background and Aim: Knowledge of normal ultrasonographic dimensions of the liver and associated vascular structures is an important indicator for the diagnosis of hepatic diseases. Enlargement of the liver beyond its normal dimensions is the term of hepatomegaly and ultrasonography is the primary and the suitable diagnostic technique for this condition. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the clinical and ultrasonographic findings of liver diseases causing hepatomegaly in 30 buffaloes as well as to provide a range of liver dimensions and its blood vessel measurements in normal and diseased buffaloes.

Materials and Methods: The study population included 30 buffaloes that were admitted to the clinic of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - Zagazig University for investigation of clinical signs associated with gastrointestinal diseases such as anorexia, chronic weight loss, and variable degrees of diarrhea or constipation. The animals were subjected to thorough clinical and ultrasonographic investigations. In addition, 10 healthy buffaloes were investigated ultrasonographically and post-slaughtering for comparison of liver dimensions and physical appearance.

Results: Three conditions causing hepatomegaly were identified in this study as multiple focal hepatic lesions, diffuse fatty liver, and hepatic congestion. Clinically, it was difficult to differentiate between each condition while ultrasonography was the ideal tool for diagnosis after comparing with necropsy as a gold standard tool. Hepatomegaly was recorded in all affected animals with a significant decrease in the size of the portal vein (PV) and caudal vena cava (CVC) in animals affected with multiple focal hepatic lesions and fatty liver disease while the size of the PV and CVC was significantly increased in buffaloes with hepatic congestion.

Conclusion: Ultrasonography can aid to accurately identify buffaloes with hepatomegaly and differentiate between different lesions involved. Keywords: buffaloes, fatty liver, hepatic congestion, hepatomegaly, ultrasonography.

Keywords: buffaloes, fatty liver, hepatic congestion, hepatomegaly, ultrasonography.

How to cite this article: Abdelaal AM, Abd El Raouf M, Aref MA, Moselhy AA (2019) Clinical and ultrasonographic investigations of 30 water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) with hepatomegaly, Veterinary World, 12(6): 789-795.

Received: 11-02-2019  Accepted: 22-04-2019     Published online: 12-06-2019

Corresponding author: M. Abd El Raouf   E-mail: dr_mustafa13@yahoo.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.789-795

Copyright: Abdelaal, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.