Animal Reproduction (AR)
https://animal-reproduction.org/article/doi/10.1590/1984-3143-AR2023-0160
Animal Reproduction (AR)
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Evaluation of ARFI elastography for detecting active mastitis in sheep with previous fibrous lesions: a study of mammary parenchyma and supramammary lymph nodes

Yuri da Silva Bonacin; Victor José Correia Santos; Marjury Cristina Maronezi; Luiz Paulo Nogueira Aires; Michele Pereira Machado; Beatriz Longo Barbosa; André Marcos Santana; Priscila Del’Aguila-Silva; Paulo Aléscio Canola; Marcus Antônio Rossi Feliciano; José Antônio Marques

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1984-3143-AR2023-0160 Anim Reprod, vol.21, n4, e20230160, 2024
PDF
Downloads: 1
Views: 186

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the use of Acustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) elastography in mammary parenchyma and supramammary lymph nodes, for detection of active mastitis in sheep with naturally infected chronic fibrous lesions. 27 female sheep were included and B-mode ultrasound and ARFI elastography images were obtained, acquiring qualitative (echogenicity and echotexture) and quantitative (shear rate, depth and short/long axis ratio) variables of 48 mammary glands. The glands were divided into three experimental groups: control group (CG) - healthy animals; LSCC- animals that presented fibrous lesions and SCC (somatic cell count) less than 500 x 103 cls/mL; HSCC: animals that presented fibrous lesions and SCC (somatic cell count) more than 500 x 103 cls/mL; The qualitative variables using B-mode ultrasonography, including echotexture and echogenicity, showed no significant differences between the evaluated groups and tissues (p = 0.9336 and p = 0.233, respectively) .In healthy areas of the gland, it was an increasing in shear wave velocity (SWV) in LSCC than in HSCC (p=0.04). When comparing the fibrosis in the LSCC and HSCC groups with their respective normal areas, the velocity increased in both groups: LSCC (p= 0,0007) and HSCC (p= 0,0001). When comparing the areas of fibrosis in LSCC and HSCC with the CG parenchyma, there was an increase in LSCC (p=0.001) and HSCC (p=0.0001). B-mode ultrasound indicate predominance of hypoechoic echogenicity in lymph nodes and reduced short/long axis ratio in cases of active subclinical mastitis. The supramammary lymph node showed increased SWV when comparing the CG with HSCC groups (p=0.02) and GC with LSCC (p=0.04). B-mode ultrasonography is useful for evaluating the mammary parenchyma, however, its application as a standalone diagnostic technique is not recommended. ARFI elastography indicates potential cutoff points for differentiating subclinical mastitis from healed mastitis, highlighting its importance as a tool for distinguishing normal areas from fibrous parenchymal areas. While this study did not establish specific cutoff points due to sample size limitations, further research with larger sample sizes could explore and define these critical thresholds.

Keywords

Inflammation, milk, sheep, ultrasound

References

Addis MF, Pisanu S, Marogna G, Cubeddu T, Pagnozzi D, Cacciotto C, Campesi F, Schianchi G, Rocca S, Uzzau S. Production and release of antimicrobial and immune defense proteins by mammary epithelial cells following streptococcus uberis infection of sheep. Infect Immun. 2013;81(9):3182-97. http://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00291-13. PMid:23774600.

Arsenault J, Dubreuil P, Higgins R, Bélanger D. Risk factors and impacts of clinical and subclinical mastitis in commercial meat-producing sheep flocks in Quebec, Canada. Prev Vet Med. 2008;87(3-4):373-93. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2008.05.006. PMid:18656275.

Barbagianni MS, Mavrogianni VS, Vasileiou NGC, Fthenakis GC, Petridis IG. Ultrasonographic examination of the udder in sheep. Small Rumin Res. 2017;152:86-99. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2016.12.009.

Bradley KJ, Bradley AJ, Barr FJ. Ultrasonographic appearance of the superficial supramammary lymph nodes in lactating dairy cattle. Vet Rec. 2001;148(16):497-501. http://doi.org/10.1136/vr.148.16.497. PMid:11345991.

Carbonell G, Berná-Serna JD, Oltra L, Martínez CM, Garcia-Carrillo N, Guzmán-Aroca F, Salazar FJ, Tudela J, Berná-Mestre JD. Evaluation of rat liver with ARFI elastography: in vivo and ex vivo study. PLoS One. 2019;14(5):e0217297. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217297. PMid:31120974.

Feliciano MAR, Uscategui RAR, Maronezi MC, Simões APR, Silva P, Gasser B, Pavan L, Carvalho CF, Canola JC, Vicente WRR. Ultrasonography methods for predicting malignancy in canine mammary tumors. PLoS One. 2017;12(5):e0178143. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0178143. PMid:28542533.

Goertz RS, Schuderer J, Strobel D, Pfeifer L, Neurath MF, Wildner D. Acoustic radiation force impulse shear wave elastography (ARFI) of acute and chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic tumor. Eur J Radiol. 2016;85(12):2211-6. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2016.10.019. PMid:27842669.

Hussein HA, EL-Khabaz KAS, Malek SS. Is udder ultrasonography a diagnostic tool for subclinical mastitis in sheep? Small Rumin Res. 2015;129:121-8. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2015.05.010.

Katsafadou AI, Politis AP, Mavrogianni VS, Barbagianni MS, Vasileiou NGC, Fthenakis GC, Fragkou IA. Mammary defences and immunity against mastitis in sheep. Animals (Basel). 2019;9(10):726. http://doi.org/10.3390/ani9100726. PMid:31561433.

Khoramian B, Vajhi A, Ghasemzadeh-Nava H, Ahrari-Khafi MS, Bahonar A. Ultrasonography of the supramammary lymph nodes for diagnosis of bovine chronic subclinical mastitis. Iran J Vet Res. 2015;16(1):75-7. PMid:27175155.

Knuth RM, Stewart WC, Taylor JB, Yeoman CJ, Bisha B, Page CM, Rowley CM, Lindsey BC, Emon ML, Murphy TW. Subclinical mastitis in sheep: etiology and association with milk somatic cell count and ewe productivity in three research flocks in the Western United States1. Transl Anim Sci. 2019;3(Suppl 1):1739-43. http://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txz078. PMid:33336153.

Marogna G, Rolesu S, Lollai S, Tola S, Leori G. Clinical findings in sheep farms affected by recurrent bacterial mastitis. Small Rumin Res. 2010;88(2-3):119-25. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2009.12.019.

Menzies PI, Ramanoon SZ. Mastitis of sheep and goats. Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract. 2001;17(2):333-58, vii. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-0720(15)30032-3. PMid:11515405.

Nightingale K. Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) imaging: a review. Curr Med Imaging Rev. 2011;7(4):328-39. http://doi.org/10.2174/157340511798038657. PMid:22545033.

Puggioni GMG, Tedde V, Uzzau S, Dore S, Liciardi M, Cannas EA, Pollera C, Moroni P, Bronzo V, Addis MF. Relationship of late lactation milk somatic cell count and cathelicidin with intramammary infection in small ruminants. Pathogens. 2020;9(1):37. http://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9010037. PMid:31906374.

Quinlivan TD. Survey observations on ovine mastitis in New Zealand stud Romney flocks. N Z Vet J. 1968;16(10-11):149-53. http://doi.org/10.1080/00480169.1968.33765. PMid:5251665.

Simões APR, Feliciano MAR, Maronezi MC, Uscategui RAR, Bartlewski PM, Almeida VT, Oh D, Silva PES, Silva LCG, Vicente WRR. Elastographic and echotextural characteristics of foetal lungs and liver during the final 5 days of intrauterine development in dogs. Anim Reprod Sci. 2018;197:170-6. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2018.08.025. PMid:30146093.

Senthilkumar S, Kannan TA, Ramesh G, Sumathi D. Histological and immunohistochemical observations of supramammary lymph node in sheep and goat. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci. 2019;8(8):74-82. http://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.808.009.

Silva P, Uscategui RAR, Maronezi MC, Gasser B, Pavan L, Gatto IRH, Almeida VT, Vicente WRR, Feliciano MAR. Ultrasonography for lymph nodes metastasis identification in bitches with mammary neoplasms. Sci Rep. 2018;8(1):17708. http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34806-9. PMid:30532025.

Sousaris N, Barr RG. Sonographic elastography of mastitis. J Ultrasound Med. 2016;35(8):1791-7. http://doi.org/10.7863/ultra.15.09041. PMid:27353071.

Toprak N, Toktas O, Ince S, Gunduz AM, Yokus A, Akdeniz H, Ozkacmaz S. Does ARFI elastography complement B-mode ultrasonography in the radiological diagnosis of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis and invasive ductal carcinoma? Acta Radiol. 2022;63(1):28-34. http://doi.org/10.1177/0284185120983568. PMid:33377394.

Tozaki M, Isobe S, Fukuma E. Preliminary study of ultrasonographic tissue quantification of the breast using the acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) technology. Eur J Radiol. 2011;80(2):e182-7. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.05.020. PMid:21788111.

Watson DL, Davies HI. Immunophysiological activity of supramammary lymph nodes of the ewe during the very early phase of staphylococcal mastitis. Res Vet Sci. 1985;39(1):52-8. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-5288(18)31770-3. PMid:4035092.

Yağcı B, Toslak IE, Çekiç B, Öz M, Karakaş BR, Akdemir M, Yıldız S, Sürene D, Bova D. Differentiation between idiopathic granulomatous mastitis and malignant breast lesions using strain ratio on ultrasonic elastography. Diagn Interv Imaging. 2017;98(10):685-91. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.diii.2017.06.009. PMid:28729183.

Youk JH, Son EJ, Kim J-A, Gweon HM. Pre-operative evaluation of axillary lymph node status in patients with suspected breast cancer using shear wave elastography. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2017;43(8):1581-6. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2017.03.016. PMid:28511961.

Zhou J, Yang Z, Zhan W, Zhang J, Hu N, Dong Y, Wang Y. Breast lesions evaluated by color-coded Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) Imaging. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2016;42(7):1464-72. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2016.02.014. PMid:27131841.
 

Submitted date:
12/12/2023

Accepted date:
06/14/2024

66f1ae92a953955de42c8602 animreprod Articles
Links & Downloads
1984-3143 (Electronic) 1806-9614 (Printed)
Anim Reprod ©2024 All rights reserved.

Anim Reprod

Share this page
Page Sections