Badania porównawcze górnych dróg oddechowych u norwich terrierów, psów ras brachycefalicznych i mezocefalicznych

Statistical analysis

Differences between the continuous variables of the 3 dog groups were assessed with one way analysis of variance and succeeding post-hoc multiple comparison tests (Bonferroni Posthoc test). Ordinary data from clinical and laryngoscopic examinations were compared between the Norwich Terriers and non-brachycephalic dogs with Fisher’s exact tests. All statistics were done with Stat View 5® (Abacus Software, Letchworth, UK) and p<0.05 was considered as significant.

Results

The clinical data from the NW and the Non-BC group were compared (Tab. 1). Resting capillary refill time, heart rate, respiratory rate and colour of the mucous membranes were within normal limits. Cardiac and pulmonary auscultation were normal. Six out of 23 NW had anamnestally shown stridor or stertor, whereas no dogs from the non-BC was reported to have pathological sounds from the upper airways. Palpation on the trachea elicited coughing in 7 Norwich Terriers and in none of the dogs from the Non-BC group. Laryngoscopy revealed pathological findings in all 23 Norwich Terriers, whereas none of the non-BC had abnormalities. These differences were significant. No laryngoscopy was made on the BC group.

Table 1. History and laryngoscopic findings in 23 Norwich Terriers and 14 non-brachycephalic dogs. Numbers delineate occurrence of corresponding finding

The nostril ratio (Fig. 4) was significantly smaller in the NW group (0.26 ± 0.03) compared to the non-BC group (0.34 ± 0.04) and the expanded second group of 22 non-brachycephalic dogs (0.36 ± 0.08).

The rhinomanometric measurements (Fig. 2) showed that the transnasal resistance (RN met) was significantly higher in the NW group (7.3 ± 2.8 kPa(l/s)-1) compared to the Non-BC group (1.8 ± 0.7 kPa(l/s)-1) , but not different to the BC group (6.0 ± 2.6 kPa(l/s)-1).

The NW group had S-index values (0.65 ± 0.36), which were not different than those of the BC group (0.63 ± 0.11). The S-index from the Non-BC grou...