Haematological Alterations in Calves With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Due to Aspiration Pneumonia: A Prospective Study

Abstract

The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis, which is considered the gold standard, and complete blood count (CBC) as a complementary test in neonatal calves with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to aspiration pneumonia. Ten healthy and 20 calves with ARDS due to aspiration of milk/colostrum were enrolled in the study. Clinical examinations were performed at admission. ABG analyses were performed to determine the presence of ARDS and investigate the extent of lung ventilation/damage. CBC analysis was performed from venous blood samples. Heart and respiratory rates and body temperature values were higher in diseased calves than healthy ones (p < 0.000). Arterial pH, partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2) and saturation of oxygen in arterial blood (SaO2) were lower (p < 0.001) in the diseased calves, while partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood (PaCO2) and lactate levels were higher (p < 0.000) than those in healthy ones. Also, leukocyte (WBC), lymphocyte, monocyte, granulocyte, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) levels were higher in the diseased calves than the healthy calves (p < 0.032). As a result of the correlation analysis, the only correlation was determined to be between PaO2 and WBC, which was moderately negative. As a result, it was observed that leukocytosis developing in respiratory diseases that cause severe inflammatory processes such as aspiration pneumonia was negatively correlated with PaO2 and could potentially exacerbate hypoxia, and ABG evaluation with CBC could provide useful clinical data in calves with ARDS due to aspiration pneumonia.