Uso da termografia infravermelha como auxílio diagnóstico de neoplasia mamária canina

Abstract

<p>This paper aimed to evaluate the use of thermography as an aid method for the early diagnosis of breast cancer in female dogs assisted at the Veterinary Hospital of IFPB Campus Sousa. Five female dogs diagnosed clinically with mammary neoplasia were selected for this study. The protocol was listed in the chronological order of medical care: anamnesis, physical examination of the tumours, thermography, surgery and collection of material for histopathological examination. Patients underwent thermographic examination with the Flir® Thermovisor equipment, model T420. The examination took place in an acclimatized room and upon permission of the animal’s tutor. 60% were pure breed female dogs. Tumours were observed in three non-castrated female dogs and two castrated ones. The masses exhibited three macroscopic presentation patterns. The majority of them were nodular, followed by pendular and flat. Masses in animal 1 showed no increase in volume and there was no difference in temperature between the breast affected by neoplasia and healthy one, whereas for animals 2, 3, 4 and 5 there was an increase in temperature of 0.6ºC, 1.0°C, 1.2°C and 2.3°C, respectively. Three different types of carcinoma were found according to histopathological examination: complex carcinoma, tubular and tubulo-papillary carcinoma. In 100% of the animals the lesions were malignant, reporting high frequency of malignant epithelial tumours in the canine species. Based on these results, it was concluded that no direct relationship was found between the thermographic imaging pattern among the types of malignant mammary tumours in female dogs. Therefore, the conception of new studies on the matter is necessary due to the small number of animals on this research, where it was not possible to affirm the capacity of the thermography in the early differentiation of the malignancy of the masses. Future researches in oncology will promote a better understanding of the pathological aspects related to mammary tumours.</p>