Investigating the Accuracy, Sensitivity and Specificity of Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration in the Diagnosis of Spleen Masses in Dogs

 Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration has been accepted as a reliable tool in diagnosing and staging intra-abdominal tumors. The purpose of this research was to investigate the value of fine needle aspiration with the help of ultrasound in diagnosing local lesions of the spleen in dogs.

 This study used twenty dogs (twelve males and eight females) suspected of spleen malignancy with a mean age of 9.3 years. The ultrasonography of each dog was prepared in the ventrodorsal and right lateral recumbency. The dogs were scanned by subcostal and intercostal methods. Sampling was done with the help of spinal needle No. 21 with a length of 10 cm (through fine needle aspiration). The results of aspiration were compared with the results of biopsy, surgery, other clinical examinations, radiological information, and subsequent ultrasonography during the treatment period. After summarizing and final diagnosis, the diagnostic value of fine needle aspiration was evaluated by calculating its accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity.

 According to our results, the accuracy of this method was 92%, and the sensitivity and specificity of this technique for malignant spleen lesions were 93.5% and 91%, respectively. It should be noted that most of the false negative cases that occurred may be due to the small size of the lesion (less than 5 mm in diameter) and the depth of the lesions (more than 4.5 cm from the surface), that the conditions caused technical problems in performing aspiration.

 According to the results of our study, the fine needle aspiration technique can be an easy, low-risk, and very effective method in malignant lesions diagnosed in the spleen.