Transtracheal aspirate in the diagnosis of affections the lower respiratory system of dogs

Abstract

Pulmonary alterations occur in small animals and demand clinical,laboratorial, microbiological and radiographic examinations.Respiratory samples can be obtained by transtracheal wash (TW). This study got samples of TW by tracheocentesis and the result of the cytological examination was compared with microbiological exam, radiograph and hematologic profile to diagnosis possible affections in the lower respiratory system of dogs. The cytological examinations demonstrated effectiveness in 80% of the samples, confirming the presumptive diagnosis of the radiographic examination. The average value of cell/mL among the animals of the experimental group was 487.1 cell/µL, reaching the minimum value (73 cell/µL) and the maximum (1,693 cell/µL). In 90% of the samples occurred predominance of ciliated cylindrical epithelial cells and a lesser ratio of non-ciliated cells and cubical epithelium. The obtainment of lower respiratory system samples by tracheal wash technique demonstrated to be a fast, safe, low cost and easy execution procedure, allowing its use in veterinary clinic. It was also a complementary condition to confirm the diagnosis suggested by the radiographic examination and hematologic profile of the animals used in this experiment.