Introduction

The medial iliac lymph node (MILN) and jejunal lymph node (JJLN) generally become hypoechoic, enlarged, and detectable when inflamed or infiltrated secondary to reactive hyperplasia in animals.

Objectives

To standardise the dimensions of MILN and JJLN in apparently healthy dogs, to record the ultrasonographic features of these nodes and to correlate the dimensions of lymph nodes with age, body weight, and body condition score (BCS).

Methods

Ultrasonographic features and biometry were recorded in thirty apparently healthy dogs using LogiQ F8 machine. The observed data was statistically analysed to obtain means, 95% confidence intervals of the mean, standard error, minimum and maximum, correlations and ANOVA to compare the means based on age, body weight, and BCS. The Pearson correlation coefficient, Beta coefficients and SEs obtained from univariate linear regression were also calculated.

Results

The length and height of MILN ranged from 0.63–3.75 cm and 0.23–1.27 cm for left node and 0.78–3.98 cm and 0.21–1.03 cm for right node respectively. The length and height of JJLN was 0.21–4.12 cm and 0.26–1.24 cm respectively. The dimensions of the MILN showed significant correlations with age and body weight of the dog. However, BCS had no correlation with the dimensions of MILN. The dimensions of JJLN had no correlation with age, body weight, and BCS.

Conclusions

Ultrasonographic biometry of MILN & JJLN for apparently healthy dogs was standardised. This can be used as a baseline data for evaluation of these nodes in dogs. The alterations in the sonographic features can be used to differentiate between normal and diseased nodes