Boccardo, Antonio, Ferrulli, Vincenzo, Sala, Giulia, Scavone, Donatella, Paltrinieri, Saverio, Filippone Pavesi, Laura, and Pravettoni, Davide
Background: Bronchopneumonia (BP) in calves potentially causes systemic changes. Objectives: To describe metabolic, arterial blood gas, and acid‐base disorders in calves with BP diagnosed by thoracic ultrasound (TUS), Wisconsin score (WISC), and combinations of WISC and TUS. Animals: Two hundred thirty‐one dairy preweaned dairy calves from 13 dairy farms. Methods: Cross‐sectional study. Each calf sequentially underwent arterial blood gas evaluation, WISC score, venous sampling, and TUS. Calves were grouped based on a single diagnostic method and combination of WISC and 2 TUS cutoffs (≥1 cm; ≥3 cm) as healthy, upper respiratory tract infection, subclinical BP, and clinical BP. Results: Oxygenation and acid‐base variables were unaffected. Glucose concentration in TUS‐affected calves was significantly lower (P <.001) than in healthy calves (median ≥TUS1cm = 5.2 mmol/L 25%‐75% interquartile range [IQR] 4.5‐6.1,