Technical Validation of Ultrasound Assessment of the Thyroid Gland in Cattle

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Cattle are not routinely screened for thyroid anomalies. Scientific data regarding thyroid diseases are also scarce. This may be due to the lack of easily accessible tools to assess the thyroid function of these animals. Thyroid ultrasound examination is a cheap, easy and non-invasive technique that can be performed without sedation. Apart from morphological information, it may also provide functional data about this gland. In this study, we attempted to validate the use of thyroid ultrasound in cattle by measuring intra- and inter-observer variability. Thyroid estimated measurements were repeated in five calves and five cows, by three different operators with different trainings. Results show that this examination has good repeatability and may be used more routinely in veterinary practice. ABSTRACT: Little is known about thyroid diseases in ruminants, probably due to the lack of diagnosis techniques developed in this species. However, thyroid ultrasound (TU) is widely used in human and in companion animal’s medicine. It is a cheap and non-invasive examination, which allows for the identification of thyroid structures or diffuse diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of TU in five calves and five cows through inter- and intra-observer repeatability. The size of the thyroid gland was measured from three views: left sagittal, right sagittal and transverse; nine measurements per view. The intra-observer coefficient was calculated for each observer. For the inter-observer, the first observer was a board-certified imagist (European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging diplomate), the second was a board-certified specialist in bovine and herd management (European College of Bovine Health Managementdiplomate) and the third was an in-trained veterinarian for the TU. They each scanned the thyroid gland successively, following the same method. The intra-observer variabilities for observers 1, 2 and 3 were 8.22%, 5.53%, 5.38%, and 7.18%, 8.65% and 6.36%, respectively, for calves and cows. The inter-observer variability for calves was 10.4% and for cows, 11.8%. This study confirms the feasibility of repeatable intra- and inter-observer TU-estimated measurements in cattle.