Sonographic signs of abdominal neoplasms in feline uveitis

Abstract

Feline uveitis is a common inflammatory disease of the vascular membrane of the eye. Damage to the uveal tract can be caused by a variety of causes, including systemic diseases, autoimmune processes, viral and bacterial infections, parasitic diseases, and oncological pathologies. Differential diagnosis of etiological factors is difficult and requires a comprehensive examination of the animal: careful collection of anamneses in order to exclude a traumatic factor, laboratory tests, serological tests to detect viral infections and parasitic infestations, visual diagnostic examination to diagnose systemic diseases and search for the oncological process. The research was conducted in 2023-2024 on the basis of the Department of Diseases of small domestic, laboratory and exotic animals, as well as the laboratory of "Oncology, Ophthalmology and Biochemistry of Animals" of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution "ROSBIOTECH". The aim of the study was to substantiate the use of sonographic and morphological research methods in the differential diagnosis of the etiology of feline uveitis. During the study, in 20.8% of cases (15 cats), sonographic examination of the abdominal cavity allowed to determine the cause of uveitis. We found: thickening of the muscular layer of the intestinal wall with partial or complete loss of layer differentiation, a local increase in the echogenicity of the surrounding adipose tissue, signs of mechanical obstruction of the proximally affected area, diffuse changes in mesenteric lymph nodes, diffuse focal changes in the liver and spleen, a volumetric neoplasm in the abdominal cavity located caudal to the right kidney, moderate nephromegaly and diffuse changes with violation of the differentiation of the cortical and cerebral layers. According to the results of morphological examination of the biopsy material, the diagnosis of large cell lymphoma was established in all cases. Uveitis in this group of cats is attributed to ophthalmopathy associated with paraneoplastic syndrome.