Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Aug;20(8):767-771.
doi: 10.1177/1098612X17731045. Epub 2017 Sep 18.

Pleural lymphocyte-rich transudates in cats

Monica Probo  1   2 , Valentina Valenti  3 , Luigi Venco  3 , Saverio Paltrinieri  1   2 , Emme Lavergne  4 , Catherine Trumel  4 , Walter Bertazzolo  5
Affiliations

Pleural lymphocyte-rich transudates in cats

Monica Probo et al. J Feline Med Surg. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives Non-chylous lymphorrhagic pleural effusions are transudative effusions with a predominance of lymphocytes; however, they do not contain chylomicrons and therefore do not have the classical milky aspect of true chylous effusion. This type of effusion has been anecdotally associated with cardiac diseases in cats, but studies are lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between this type of effusion and the primary disease. Methods In this study, feline non-chylous lymphorrhagic pleural effusions were retrospectively selected from the database of the authors' institutions over a 3 year period. All cases underwent thoracic imaging, including echocardiography. Effusions classified as transudates with a predominance of lymphocytes on cytology were included. Results Thirty-three cases fulfilled the inclusion criteria: 23 (69.7%) had a concurrent cardiac disease, eight (24.2%) cases were associated with the presence of a mediastinal lymphoma or carcinoma or a thoracic mass, one case (3.0%) was a thymoma and one case (3.0%) was a sequela of a pyothorax. Conclusions and relevance Since a clear lymphatic origin of the fluid could not be demonstrated, lymphocyte-rich transudate might be considered a better designation for these kinds of effusions rather than non-chylous lymphorrhagic effusions. Although the number of cases in this preliminary study is low, the presence of a pleural lymphocyte-rich transudate in a cat should prompt the search for cardiac disease or intrathoracic neoplasia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Predominance of small lymphocytes in a feline lymphocyte-rich transudate. Cyto spin preparation, × 400
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. O’Brien PJ, Lumsden JH. The cytologic examination of body cavity fluids. Semin Vet Med Surg 1988; 3: 140–156. - PubMed
    1. Rizzi TE, Cowell RL, Tyler RD, et al.. Effusions: abdominal, thoracic, and pericardial. In: Cowell RL, Tyler RD, Meinkoth JH, et al. (eds). Diagnostic cytology and hematology of the dog and cat. 3rd ed. St Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier, 2008, pp 235–255.
    1. Zoia A, Drigo M. Diagnostic value of Light’s criteria and albumin gradient in classifying the pathophysiology of pleural effusion formation in cats. J Feline Med Surg 2016; 18: 666–672. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stockham SL, Scott MA. Cavitary effusions. In: Stockham SL, Scott MA. (eds). Fundamentals of veterinary clinical pathology. 2nd ed. Ames, IA: Blackwell Publishing, 2008, pp 832–865.
    1. Dempsey SM, Ewing PJ. A review of the pathophysiology, classification, and analysis of canine and feline cavitary effusions. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 2011; 47: 1–11. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources