A retrospective study of non-specific rhinitis in 22 cats and the value of nasal cytology and histopathology

Case records from 40 cats subjected to rhinoscopic examination for investigation of chronic nasal disease were reviewed. Cases in which no specific underlying cause (eg neoplasia) was detected were further selected for detailed retrospective study. In these 22 cats (55% of the initial population), a final diagnosis of non-specific chronic nasal disease was made. The radiographic, rhinoscopic, cytological and histopathological findings were reviewed. Mucosal biopsy specimens were obtained in 20 cases. Despite clinical signs of more than 4 weeks duration, histopathology indicated acute inflammation in four cases. Two cases had chronic lymphoplasmacytic inflammation and 14 had mixed (lymphoplasmacytic and neutrophilic) inflammation. Specimens for cytology were obtained from 17 cases by brush sampling. Three of these samples were not diagnostic due to the poor quality of the slides; one showed normal cytology. Acute inflammation was diagnosed by cytology (n = 11) more commonly than chronic (n = 1) or mixed inflammation (n = 1). Concurrent samples, of quality suitable for both histopathological and cytological interpretation, were collected from 12 cases only. Cytological results were in agreement with the histological results in 25%, of these cases, the main discrepancy being the nature of the dominant inflammatory cell type. Therefore cytology does not appear to be a reliable means for detection of chronic inflammation. Further studies are needed in order to investigate the correlation between the nature of mucosal inflammation as defined by both histological and cytological evaluation, and the relationship of these test results to prognosis and therapy. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of ESFM and AAFP

Punção aspirativa por agulha fina para diagnóstico de mastocitoma em cães Fine needle aspiration for diagnosis of mast cell tumors in dogs

<abstract language="eng">Fine needle aspiration (FNA) associated with the cytological diagnosis mast cell tumor is a widely employed technique in human medicine, but it is still underused in veterinary medicine. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of FNA technique for the diagnosis of mast cell tumors in dogs. Over one year period all dogs referred to the Veterinary Hospital of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais with tumor-like formations of the skin were submitted to FNA. In order to detect metastasis, both skin lesions and the regional lymph nodes were subjected to FNA. After surgical removal of the lesions, histological examination indicated a complete agreement with the cytological diagnosis. In conclusion, FNA technique is a good choice for diagnosis of mast cell tumors in dogs. In addition, FNA allows an adequate and early therapeutic planning