Pregnancy diagnosis in dromedary: comparison between transrectal and transabdominal ultrasonography

Abstract

This study aimed to compare between transrectal and transabdominal ultrasonography for visualization of camel conceptus during different stages of gestation in dromedary. A group of six pregnant female dromedary camels was used in this study. Consecutive transrectal and transabdominal ultrasonography were performed once weekly between the second and 42nd weeks of pregnancy and every 2 weeks from the 42nd week until parturition. Six areas were selected for transabdominal ultrasound examination, namely caudal abdominal (CAA, right and left, above the base of the udder), middle abdominal (MIA, right and left, from the base of the udder to the umbilicus); and cranial abdominal (CRA, right and left, from the umbilicus to the xiphoid cartilage). On each examination, attempts were made to imagine the conceptus and to estimate the biparietal diameter (BPD), eyeball diameter (EBD), abdominal diameter (ABD) and ruminal diameter (RUD). The result revealed that between the 4th and 5th weeks, the conceptus could only be visualized by the transrectal approach (100%). Between the 6th and the 12th weeks, the conceptus was mostly observed through the left CAA (100%) and the transrectal (97.6%) approaches, but less repeatedly over the right CAA (66.7%) approach. From the 13th to the 27th weeks, the conceptus was mostly observed over the left CAA (100%), but less regularly through the right CAA (50%) and transrectal (31.8%) approaches. Between the 28th and 52nd weeks, the conceptus was chiefly detected via the left CRA approach (92.3%), but less often over right CRA (69.2%) and transrectal (60.3%) approaches. The EBD was the greatest accessible fetal parameter throughout transrectal and transabdominal examinations and the ABD was the slightest. It could be concluded that the transrectal, left CAA, and left CRA ultrasonography are the preeminent techniques for pregnancy diagnosis during early, mid-, and late gestation, respectively.