Diagnosis of Effusions Flashcards
(48 cards)
What is an Effusion?
- Whether fluid accumulates or not- is just a clinical sign
- how much fluid is being produced or is coming in? How much is being drained?
- There is fluid constantly being made but it is always being drained normally

Reasons for Analysis


Fluid Analysis
- Need to collect in anticoagulant tube
- if it is inflammatory and has fibrinogen in it, will clot, and lead to false classification
- Need to identify types of cells and proportions

Normal Fluids (small animals)
- when it comes to the peritoneal spac, there is a very minute amount of fluid that just forms a smooth surface
- shouldnt really be able to draw up this fluid as it is just a protective film layer

Normal Fluid Appearance
- Hydrostatic presssure is what is pushing fluid out from capillaries
- oncotic pressure holds the fluid back
- difference between the two is generally a small pressure gradient
- IF YOU HAVE HEALTHY CAPILLARY WALL
- can have compromised wall for example that is too leaky
- or lymphatic drainage has been affected

Normal FLuid Regulation

Classification of Effusions
- Every time you classify a fluid
- modified is more of a lumping term
- Is based on total nuclear cell count and total protein

Transudate
- refers to passive movement of fluids across membranes
- gradient between two pressures will change and lead to transudation
- will have low cell count and total protein
- more watery

Transudate- cytology
- hunt for cells as they are far and few inbetween

Causes of Transudates
- generally look at albumin levels as it is the most abundant protein
- -if you have a SEVERE drop in albumin, then yes you will have enough of an oncotic pressure change to have transudation
- but people are born with less albumin and do not have this effect (ECHO)

Causes of Transudates
(hypoalbuminemia)
- If glomeruli are leaking, glomerularnephritis
- have fluid accumulations
- or if the liver is not producing albumin so there is not enough in circulation (overall loss in protein)
- These animals still only have a moderate decrease in oncotic pressure due to albumin deficiency though!

Hepatic Cirrhosis, Portal Hypertension, and Transudate formation
- This is more an issue on the hydrostatic pressure side
- blood will not be able to enter liver as well (portohypertension) and then there will be a discrepancy between pressures

stages after hepatic fibrosis
(diagram)
- if the congestion is behind the liver, when you have leakage of this protein, you see a low cell/protein fluid
- echo

Modified Transudate
- kind of lumps everything inbetween as a category
- still a relatively low cell count (moderate increase in TNCC and protein)
- bit more of a rich protein transudate
- more of a mixture of cells present as well - mixture of inflammatory cells


Modified transudate
dont need to look as hard for cells
Modified Transudate Histo
- If heart is failing, you will have a backup of pressure behind it
- that pressure is hydrostatic and therefore builds up
- depends on if oncotic pressure can keep up
- lymph drainage goes into vena cava, but if the low pressure system is affected, this drainage system will be an issue as well
- echo
- obstruction behind a tumor would lead to a similar drainage problem

Causes of Modified Transudate

Steps following Cardiac Failure
(diagram)
This type of congestion will affect the liver and will lead to the leakage of high protein lymph into the periotneal space
when the whole liver is congested, this is where we ooze out proteins

Exudate
- cells are actively recruited to come to the area
- the capillaries will be leakier and therefore the plasma is full of protein
- there is a lot of protein in the plasma
- macroscopically can actually look like pus: yellowish, turbent
- depends on how severe the inflammation is
- more common: neutrophils
- sometimes: eosinophils

Causes of Exudates
- Usually look for bacteria or any infectious causes
- long standing congestive process (heart failure), the fluid will start to affect surfaces over time and then lead to a possible exudate status due to resulting inflammation
- echo

Non-septic exudate and Septic Exudate
- FIP is a very inflammatory fluid, but is due to a VIRAL disease
- extracellular bacteria cant be taken often as it could be a (echo)


Septic Exudate - Cytology
can see that the bacteria has been phagocytosed
Septic Exudate
(degenerate neutrophils and bacteria)

FIP
(feline infectious peritonitis)
- often will have high protein concentration but the cell count can be relatively low or higher
- often: low cell count but high protein
- realistically the only thing that really works is doing immunoflorescence on the fluid for the virus, but will lable coronavirus as well?
- looking at fluid is not diagnostic enough to diagnose the fatal disease
























