Further characterisation of computed tomographic and clinical features for staging and prognosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in west highland white terriers

Further characterisation of computed tomographic and clinical features for staging and prognosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in west highland white terriers T 2017, 'Further characterisation of computed tomographic and clinical features for staging and prognosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in west highland white terriers' Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound. Publisher Rights Statement: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ©2017 The Authors. General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Abstract Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is an interstitial lung disease of unknown etiology resulting in progressive interstitial fibrosis, with a known predilection in West Highland white terriers. In humans, computed tomography (CT) is a standard method for providing diagnostic and prognostic information , and plays a major role in the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis staging process. Objectives of this retrospective, analytical, cross-sectional study were to establish descriptive criteria for reporting CT findings and test correlations among CT, clinical findings and survival time in West Highland white terriers with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Inclusion criteria for affected West Highland white terriers were a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and available CT, bronchoscopy, bronchoalveolar lavage, echocardiography, and routine blood analysis findings. Clinically normal West Highland white terriers were recruited for the control group. Survival times were recorded for affected dogs. The main CT lung pattern and clinical data were blindly and separately graded as mild, moderate, or severe. Twenty-one West Highland white terriers with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and 11 control West Highland white terriers were included. The severity of pulmonary CT findings was positively correlated with severity of clinical signs (í µí¼Œ = 0.48, P = 0.029) and negatively associated with survival time after diagnosis (í µí¼Œ = –0.56, P = 0.025). Affected dogs had higher lung attenuation (median: –563 Hounsfield …