Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Imaging
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1506670
This article is part of the Research Topic The Integration of Clinical Veterinary Anatomy and Diagnostic Imaging View all 9 articles

Canine medial retropharyngeal lymph node measurements on T2 spinecho sequences at 3T

Provisionally accepted
Emily B DuPont Emily B DuPont Elizabeth Boudreau Munnerlyn Elizabeth Boudreau Munnerlyn *
  • Texas A and M University, College Station, Texas, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The objective of this study is to estimate reference values for medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes (MRLN) measured in high-field (3T) MRI studies of the canine head/brain using transverse T2 spin echo images, and to determine if dogs with structural brain disease exhibit medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes that are larger than expected from estimated reference values. The study population comprises 142 MRLN from 71 dogs with no evidence of structural brain disease and normal CSF evaluation, and 116 MRLN from 58 dogs with structural brain disease confirmed by histopathology as of infectious or neoplastic origin, or to represent meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology. Based on this sample, MRLN are expected to measure 2.9-12.4 mm in maximum short-axis transverse diameter. Interobserver measurement differences are ~1 mm in 95% of the sampled subjects. Lymph node size is correlated with body weight (R=0.47-0.52) and age (R=-0.39--0.47). No difference was found between lymph node size of dogs with structural brain disease of any type, or overall, compared to that of dogs without structural brain disease.

    Keywords: Cervical, MUO, glymphatic, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, dog

    Received: 05 Oct 2024; Accepted: 11 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 DuPont and Munnerlyn. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Elizabeth Boudreau Munnerlyn, Texas A and M University, College Station, 77843, Texas, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.