Colour Doppler Sonography of Cystic Ovarian Follicles in Cows

Abstract

Abstract. The goals of the present study were to investigate whether colour Doppler sonography can be used to differentiate temporary from persistent ovarian follicles and follicles with luteal tissue from follicles without luteal tissue and to assess the response of follicular cysts to administration of a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue. Fifty-four cows having ovarian follicular structures with a diameter of >15 mm but no corpus luteum were included. These cows were examined via B-mode and colour Doppler sonography. The same examinations were repeated 10 to 12 days later, and the cows with follicular cysts (n=17) received a GnRH analogue. Blood flow was measured before and 30 min after treatment. Ten to 12 days later, the response to treatment was assessed using B-mode sonography. While 31 of 54 follicles disappeared spontaneously (temporary follicles), 23 follicles persisted and were diagnosed as cystic ovarian follicles (COFs). There was no difference between temporary follicles and COFs in regard to total area, wall thickness or the perfused area. In the luteinized follicles (n=13), based on the plasma progesterone concentration, total area was twice as large, wall thickness was three times greater and the perfused area was 4.5 times larger than those of the non-luteinized follicles (n=41). The sensitivity of diagnosing luteinized follicles was 61.5% using B-mode sonography and 92.3% using colour Doppler sonography. Twelve cows responded to GnRH, and five cows did not. There was a trend (P=0.07) toward higher (59.3%) blood flow in the cyst wall 30 min after treatment in the responding cows compared with the non-responding cows. Our results showed that the perfused area more accurately reflects active luteal tissue than wall thickness. Thus, colour Doppler sonography is superior to B-mode sonography for differentiating follicular and luteal cysts and aids in the selection of treatment. However, exact prediction of COFs destined to regress or persist and the response of COFs to treatment with a GnRH analogue were not possible using colour Doppler sonography. Key words: Blood flow, Cow, Cystic ovarian follicles, Doppler sonography, Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) (J. Reprod. Dev. 54: [447][448][449][450][451][452][453] 2008) ystic ovarian follicles (COFs) occur with an incidence of 5.2 to 27.9% [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] and constitute one of the most important causes of reproductive failure in dairy cows. Although cows with acute COFs may recover spontaneously [5,8,9], herd fertility is impaired considerably because the service rate is prolonged by 22 to 77 days [2,3,10].A cystic follicle has been traditionally defined as an anovulatory follicle persisting for more than 10 days that has a diameter of >25 mm without luteal tissue [7,11]. For the purpose of B-mode sonographic studies, a diameter of ≥20 mm [12,13] or ≥17 mm [14,15] and persistence for a minimum of seven days are used as criteria for COFs. Small cystic follicles with a diameter of 15 to 22 mm do not differ histologically from cy...

Sütçü İneklerde Ovaryum Kistlerinin Tanısı ve Metabolik Profili Üzerine Bir Çalışma

“…According to Probo et al [9] , low BHB may indicate a low mobilization of fat reserves. Despite the involvement of BHB in the OC pathogenesis [5] , the results of the present work have demonstrated no influence of this parameter in OC maintaining.…”

“…According to the manufacturer, the minimum detection limit was 0.1 ng/mL. A serum cut-off value of 1 ng/mL was considered in the classification of OC (FC: P4 <1 ng/mL; LC: P4 ≥1 ng/mL) [5,8,9] . Cysts with thin walls ≤3 mm, a uniformly anechogenic fluid, with a P4 concentration <1 ng/mL were considered FC.…”

“…Moreover, the choice of a therapeutic strategy must also depend on the degree of accuracy (predictive value) of the diagnosis of OC (follicular cyst [FC] or luteinized cyst [LC]) because incorrect diagnosis leads to inadequate treatment [4,5] . Indeed, it is very common that veterinary practitioners diagnose ovarian cyst based on a single visit to the affected animals without reassessing the diagnosis a few days later [5] , which does not provide an accurate picture of the problem because one visit indicates only the size of OC. Moreover, without hormonal analysis, it is impossible to determine if the cyst is functional or not.…”

“…Therefore, it seems essential to use ultrasound or P4 analysis rather than rectal palpation [1] . According to Rauch et al [5] , positive predictive value for FC or LC diagnosed by rectal palpation is 66%, it increases to 74% for FC and 85% for LC when ultrasound examination is performed. This same value also increases by performing P4 assay [5] .…”

ACTH administration during formation of preovulatory follicles impairs steroidogenesis and angiogenesis in association with ovulation failure in lactating cows

“…The enlarged size of the follicular cyst was suggested to be because of increased vessel permeability by VEGF. On the other hand, an increase in blood flow was observed in luteal cysts, which were characterized by a wall thickness of >3 mm, in association with a plasma progesterone concentration of >1 ng/mL [37,38]. The discrepancy between the studies is most likely due to the different experimental models, ie, comparing cysts with healthy large follicles (>9 mm in diameter) [36] rather than preovulatory follicles (present study).…”