Contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic characteristics of the diseased canine prostate gland

The work was carried out on a total of 26 male dogs that on the basis of clinical examination, prostate ultrasound and prostate biopsy, were divided prospectively into four groups: (1) normal dogs (control group; n ¼ 8); (2) dogs with benign prostatic hyperplasia (group BPH; n ¼ 8); (3) dogs suffering from prostatitis (group prostatitis; n ¼ 4); (4) dogs with prostatic tumors (group tumors; n ¼ 6). The examination of the prostate bymeans of contrast medium and dedicated ultrasound system allowed a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of prostatic vessels in normal and diseased conditions, enabling the detection and characterization of different disease states, and quantification of parameters such as peak intensity of perfusion (%), arrival time of the contrast medium to its maximum value of video intensity (time to peak [TTP; seconds]), regional blood volume, regional blood flow, and mean transit time (MTT [seconds]). The hemodynamic indices TTP (P < 0.01) and MTT (P < 0.001) of diseased prostate groups were significantly lower than those in the normal prostate group although there were no differences among diseases. Optimal cutoff values were 31 seconds (Sensitivity: 72%; Specificity: 88%) and 47 seconds (Sensitivity: 100%; Specificity: 88%) while area under receiver operating characteristic curveswere 0.86 (P< 0.01) and 0.97 (P