A retrospective study on transabdominal ultrasound measurements of the rumen wall thickness to evaluate chronic rumen ac
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
A retrospective study on transabdominal ultrasound measurements of the rumen wall thickness to evaluate chronic rumen acidosis in beef cattle Enrico Fiore1, Vanessa Faillace1* , Massimo Morgante1, Leonardo Armato2 and Matteo Gianesella1
Abstract Background: Chronic and subacute rumen acidosis are economically important in the beef industry. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential suitability of the transabdominal ultrasonographic examination of the ruminal wall to diagnose chronic rumen acidosis in beef cattle compared to direct measurement of ruminal pH, as a fast non-invasive tool to be used in field condition. Ultrasonographic examination of the rumen was conducted in 478 beef cattle before rumenocentesis (chronic rumen acidosis group = pH ≤ 5.8; healthy group = pH ≥ 5.9). Rumen wall ultrasound measurements included rumen wall thickness (RWT) and rumen mucosa and submucosa thickness (RMST). Results: The Analysis of Variance showed the high significant effect of the pH class for RWT and RMST (P < 0.001). Spearman RANK correlation analysis showed interaction between rumen pH and RWT (− 0.71; P < 0.0001) and RMST (− 0.75; P < 0.0001). A significant Spearman’s correlations were found between volatile fatty acids (VFA) and RWT and RMST. The differentiation efficiency of RWT between healthy and chronic rumen acidosis groups, as a result of the receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis, was quite good with an area under the receiver operator curve (AUROC) of 0.88: P < 0.0001; 95% CI: 0.83–0.98. Using a cut-off value of > 8.2 mm. The differentiation efficiency of RMST between healthy and chronic rumen acidosis groups, as a result of ROC curve analysis, was good with an AUROC of 0.90: p < 0.0001; 95% CI: 0.85–0.94. Using a cut-off value of > 5.3 mm. Conclusions: In this study, the thickening of RWT and RMST is correlated with the changes of ruminal pH. Transabdominal rumen ultrasound has the potential to become a powerful diagnostic tool useful to identify fattening bulls affected by chronic rumen acidosis. Keywords: Beef cattle, Chronic rumen acidosis, Rumen wall, Ultrasonography
* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Animal Medicine, Productions and Health (MAPS), University of Padua, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted
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