Distribution and Incidence Pattern of Dogs with Space Occupying Lesions in Thorax: A Prospective Study
Vidhi Barche
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, NDVSU, India.
Apoorva Mishra *
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, NDVSU, India.
Apra Shahi
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, NDVSU, India.
Shobha Jawre
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, NDVSU, India.
Randhir Singh
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, NDVSU, India.
Babita Das
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, NDVSU, India.
Nidhi Gupta
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, NDVSU, India.
Amita Tiwari
Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, NDVSU, India.
Pura Yaro Semy
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, NDVSU, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Thoracic space-occupying lesions in dogs include a wide range of neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions affecting the lungs, pleura, and mediastinum, often presenting with similar respiratory clinical signs. Early diagnosis is challenging, and Thoracic Radiography remains the primary screening tool in veterinary practice for detecting and characterizing these lesions. The present study was done at Veterinary Clinical Complex (VCC), Jabalpur to investigate the incidence of space occupying thoracic lesions in dogs. During the study period of 6 months (June to November 2025), the total no. of dogs registered were 4973. Out of these 234 cases were suspected of space occupying thoracic lesions based on clinical signs like respiratory distress, coughing, exercise intolerance, anorexia and abnormal lung sound, nasal discharge, rapid weight loss, congested mucous membrane, panting and epistaxis. After radiographic examination of these dogs, 13 confirmed cases of space occupying thoracic lesions were recorded with an overall incidence of 0.26%, out of which the incidence of secondary metastatic lesions were 0.12%, pleural effusion 0.08%, primary growth 0.02%, lymphoma 0.02% and pericardial effusion 0.02%. The most common clinical signs were respiratory distress, coughing and exercise intolerance. Age wise distribution revealed higher incidence in adult and old dogs (0.12% each). Females showed a higher distribution (53.85%) than males (45.15%) with an overall incidence of 0.40% and 0.18% respectively. Breed-wise analysis indicated a greater presentation in Indian Mongrel (30.77%), followed by Labrador Retriever (20.51%), Saint Bernard (15.38%), Pomeranian (11.53%), German Shepherd (08.98%), Pug (05.12%), others (4.70%) and Indian Spitz (03.01%).
Keywords: Dog, distribution, space occupying lesion, thorax, incidence