Avaliação do tamanho de urólitos em cadáveres de cães através da radiografia e ultrassonografia

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the accuracy of ultrasonography and radiography in measuring the size of vesical uroliths in canine cadavers. Three canine cadavers were used, in which uroliths with standardized diameters of 0.5 cm, 1.1 cm, and 1.9 cm were surgically implanted. Two observers performed three measurements of each urolith using three imaging approaches: ultrasonography based on the hyperechoic surface, ultrasonography considering the acoustic shadow, and plain radiography. Statistical analysis included intraobserver variance, interobserver variance, concordance correlation, and Bland–Altman bias analysis. Ultrasonographic methods showed higher agreement with the real size of the uroliths, particularly measurements based on the acoustic shadow, which presented lower dispersion. Radiography showed lower concordance and greater variability in measurements. In conclusion, ultrasonography, especially when evaluating the acoustic shadow, proved to be a more consistent method for estimating vesical urolith size in the experimental model used.