Ultrasound examination for diagnosing pneumopathies in New World primates, focusing on pulmonary consolidation

Abstract Pulmonary ultrasonography may be useful for early diagnosis and management of respiratory complications. The combination of air and soft tissues confirms imaging artifacts that may contribute to differentiation of healthy lung tissue from deteriorated lung tissue. Although non-human primates are often chosen as research models due to similarity to humans, there is a scarcity of data on the use of pulmonary ultrasound on these individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of ultrasound examinations of the thoracic region of Callithrix sp in diagnosing pneumopathy. Parameters were obtained from 84 Callithix sp of both sexes, aged 1.6 to 15 years and weighing 222 to 684 grams, which were caught within the Mucky Project, in Itu, São Paulo. Thoracic ultrasound examinations were conducted using the LOGIQe-R7 (GE, USA), with a 12 MHz linear transducer, at four points of both antimeres. 18 individuals presented some type of pulmonary alteration. Two of the animals with pulmonary alterations died and then underwent necropsy. Histopathological analysis showed that their lung tissue was compatible with the presence of suppurative bacterial bronchopneumonia. In the light of these cases, pulmonary consolidations diagnosed through thoracic ultrasound examination can be correlated with occurrence of pneumonia.