Case Study

RADS – Bronchitis in a 4 year old MN Golden Retriever dog

History of difficulty swallowing from puppyhood; otherwise wnl. Progression of signs to episodes (daily to every other week) of lip licking, hard swallowing, sometimes regurgitation of small fluid or phlegm. No vomiting. Stools are 100% firm and formed. Diet of slurry kibble; owner feeds small freq meals elevated and this seems to help.

Physical Exam: Thin overall, BCS 3.5/9 – very energetic. bilateral temporalis muscle atrophy (moderate), prominent spine. no cough on tracheal palpation.

CBC: wnl; Chemistry: low phosphorus, otherwise wnl; Urinalysis: hematuria (cysto sample)

DX

The radiographic findings are compatible with bronchitis, infectious vs allergic (eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy)

Image Interpretation

Rads of right lateral and VD thorax and abdomen; right lat neck – Osseous structures:
Mild degenerative changes were associated with the axial sceleton including a moderate Spondylosis deformans L2/3 and mild lumbar spondylarthroses.
Extrathoracic soft tissues:
A small ovoid fat opaque swelling was noted on the right lateral chest wall level with the 4th rib. Otherwise within normal limits.
Intrathoracic structures:
No abnormal widening of the esophagus was noted. The cranial cervical esophagus contained a mild amount of air but did not present dilation.
The course of the trachea was normal. The cardiac silhouette was within normal limits. The major and pulmonary vessels were within normal limits.
The lung presented a moderate bronchointerstital pattern with peribronchial cuffing emphasizing the caudordorsal aspect of the lung. There was no evidence of aspiration pneumonia.

Outcome

The most likely underlying causes include infectious disease such as viral and/or bacterial. Lungworm infection cannot be ruled out entirely but its potential appears low and the main differential diagnosis to infectious bronchitis that has to be considered is allergic bronchitis i.e. eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy. Further work up with bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage / lung worm testing is only recommended in case of clinical signs. The radiographs were negative for megaesophagus and aspiration pneumonia
Mild age related changes of the pulmonary parenchyma and axial skeleton were noted.
Supspect right chest wall lipoma. Palpation of chest wall is recommended.