Anatomical and topographic substantiation of biopsy of intraarticular structures in infectious polyarthritis of cats

Abstract

Currently, infectious polyarthritis in cats is a very urgent problem in veterinary medicine. Worldwide, one of the most common causes of cat euthanasia is polyarthritis of unexplained etiology, which is not amenable to empirical and symptomatic treatment. The difficulty in diagnosing polyarthritis in cats lies in the large number of infectious agents that can penetrate into joint tissues with blood and lymph flow, while not all regions of the world have a full-fledged diagnosis of these diseases. The second reason complicating the diagnosis of polyarthritis in cats is the absence of infectious agents in the synovial fluid during its examination by various methods such as PCR, bacteriological culture, and ELISA diagnostics. The aim of the study was to consider an open method of biopsy of intraarticular structures in cats with infectious polyarthritis and to identify the safest places of material selection for patients with anatomical and topographic justification. The study was conducted in the Network of veterinary centers "Kotonai" and at the Department of Animal Anatomy of the St. Petersburg State University of Veterinary Medicine. The object of the study was cats in the number of six individuals. The average age of the patients ranged from 3 months to 9 years. There were no severe postoperative complications requiring repeated treatment in the studied patients. The clinical result in these cases can be called positive, despite the presence of minor complications in the early postoperative period. The diagnosis in most patients was established on the basis of examination of biopsies of the articular capsule and articular cartilage. For the collection of material in cats with polyarthritis and altered anatomy in the joint area, the safest localization is craniolateral access to the wrist joint, caudolateral access to the hock joint and cranial access to the hock joint.