Case Study

RADS- Chronic or Healed Bronchitis and Allergic Airway Disease in a 14 year old Dachshund dog

The patient presented with neck pain, inability to extend shoulders, and coughing. CBC, chemistry and urinalysis were WNL.

Image Interpretation

Rads- lateral and VD views of the thorax. Osseous structures: There was moderate osteoarthrosis of the shoulder joints. The assessment of the spine was limited to the positioning (there was moderate rotation of the trunk in all views). No major radiographic abnormalities were noted.
Extrathoracic soft tissue structures: The stomach was moderately distended with gas and food. There appeared to be a large round soft tissue swelling in the upper neck region covered by a skin fold.
Intrathoracic structures: The chest volume was normal. The diaphragmatic crura and cupola were in a normal position. The course of the trachea was normal. The cardiac silhouette was normal for size and shape. The major vessels were within normal limits. The pulmonary vessels and caudal vena cava were thin. No mediastinal widening was noted. The lungs showed bronchial wall mineralization, mild bronchial wall thickening and occasional cylindrical bronchiectasis.

DX

Chronic or healed inflammatory airway disease. Infectious bronchitis – especially viral and/or bacterial - and allergic airway disease – such as eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy (formerly known as pulmonary infiltrates with eosinophils PIE) – are a potential here. Parasitic, fungal and mycobacterial infections are low for potential with the current radiographic presentation.

Outcome

Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage and lung worm testing are may be considered if symptomatic treatment is unsuccessful for further diagnostic work up. This also depends on the severity of the clinical signs.
There was no radiographic sign of cardiac disease.
Aerophagia was seen likely as a function of stress.
There was suspicion of a soft tissue swelling/mass in the upper neck which could neither be confirmed nor ruled out based on the lateral view. This may be artifactual due to a prominent skin fold and should be correlated with the clinical examination.
There was incidental osteoarthrosis of the shoulder joints.