Triagem citopatológica em cães e gatos atendidos em um hospital veterinário na região central do Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

In Veterinary Medicine, oncology has been gaining more and more space in the clinical routine, due to the high prevalence of neoplasm diagnoses, a consequence of the increase in the life expectancy of animals, the care provided by tutors and the advancement of studies in the area. Cytology is a quick, minimally invasive and low-cost tool to aid diagnosis, which enables agility in diagnostic targeting and clinical management. The objective of the present study was to perform the screening of lesions in dogs and cats treated in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul and to evaluate aspects related to breed, age, sex and anatomical location. A total of 1,037 cytological examination protocols from the Veterinary Clinical Laboratory (LCV) of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) were reviewed during the period from January 2021 to December 2022 and a total of 1,699 lesions were obtained. Nine hundred and sixteen (53.9%) were neoplastic, 557 (32.8%) were non-neoplastic and 226 (13.3%) were unrepresentative. The predominance was male canines (87%), female canines (68.8%), elderly dogs (57.7%), mongrel dogs (SRD) (53%) and shih tzu breeds (4.9%) and Dachshund (4.4%). Felines represented 13% of the evaluated population, with a predominance of females (60%) and adults (54.1%). The SRD were more numerous (97%), followed by the Persian breed (1.5%), Siamese (0.75%) and Russian Blue (0.75%). Both species had the highest occurrence in the integumentary, female reproductive and hemolymphatic systems, respectively. In the integumentary system, dogs mainly presented lipoma (16.5%), epidermoid cyst (11.8%) and mastocytoma (9.3%) and cats, neutrophilic inflammatory process (11.2%), small cell carcinoma. squamous cells (SCC) (6.7%) and mesenchymal cell hyperplasia (6.7%). In the female reproductive system, dogs mostly exhibited mammary neoplasms (71.5%), mammary ductal ectasia (5.2%) and transmissible venereal tumor (TVT) (5%). In cats, mammary neoplasms (61%), mammary ductal ectasia (12.2%) and fibroadenomatous alteration (7.3%). In the canine hemolymphatic system, the predominance was reactive lymph node (52%), lymphoid tissue without alteration (13.3%) and lymphoma (12%). In cats, lymphoma (20%) and reactive lymph node (20%), followed by lymphoid tissue without alteration (16%). The results reinforce the important role of cytopathological analysis in the veterinary routine, in order to help clinicians, with agility, in choosing the best treatment for their patient.