Presurgical assessment of splenic tumors in dogs: a retrospective study of 57 cases (2012-2017)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and imaging characteristics of canine splenic tumors and to establish guidelines for the presurgical assessment of splenic tumors in dogs. Fifty-seven dogs that underwent total splenectomy for the treatment of splenic tumors were evaluated by examining medical records, hematologic results, diagnostic imaging results, and histopathologic results. The maximum lesion size from ultrasonography was significantly different between malignant and benign tumors ( = 0.002). There was a correlation between tumor margination and type of splenic tumors ( = 0.045). Precontrast lesion attenuation on computed tomography was significantly different between splenic malignant and benign tumors ( = 0.001). The mean ± SD precontrast lesion attenuation of malignant tumors was 40.3 ± 5.9 Hounsfield units (HU), and for benign tumors, it was 52.8 ± 6.8 HU. In conclusion, some variables of the imaging examination could be used to distinguish the type of splenic tumor. Based on the study results, using a diagnostic flowchart would be effective in increasing the survival rate of patients with splenic malignant tumors. In addition, fine needle aspiration or magnetic resonance imaging prior to surgical exploration and histopathologic examination may be useful in achieving a more accurate diagnosis.