ULTRASONOGRAPHY OF FATTY INFILTRATION OF THE LIVER IN DAIRY CATTLE USING LIVER‐KIDNEY CONTRAST

Abstract

Ultrasonography of both the liver and kidney in 150 dairy cows was attempted using a grey‐scale sonograph with a 3.5 MHz transducer and a linear array electronic scanner. Liver and kidney specimens were examined microscopically and fatty occupying rate was calculated. Digital analysis of hepatic and renal ultrasonograms was performed. The echoes from different areas of the liver and kidney at 1 and 3 cm from the peritoneum were quantified as histogram mean (Emean) and histogram mode (Emode) values of echo amplitude.Liver‐kidney contrast was performed only in 38 out of 150 animals. In the other 112 animals, no images of the liver and kidney at the same distance from the peritoneum could be obtained. Out of 38 animals, 23 had a normal liver and 15 had fatty infiltration of the liver (7, 5 and 3 animals had mild, moderate and severe fatty infiltration, respectively). Fatty infiltration of the kidney was also seen in animals whose liver had >10% fatty occupying rate. At 1 cm from the peritoneum, the hepatic Emeans and Emodes were significantly different from the renal Emeans and Emodes in animals with severe fatty infiltration of the liver (p < 0.05). The results show that for diagnosis of fatty infiltration of the liver, Ultrasonography using liver‐kidney contrast has only limited use in dairy cattle.