Presentation
Presents for increased respiratory rate and lethargy today.
Patient Data
There is increased soft tissue opacity in the pleural space with rounding and retraction of the lung lobes and visible fissure lines. There is uniform increased opacity in the right cranial thorax on both the dorsoventral and ventrodorsal projections. There is a pericardial fat stripe visible on the lateral projection which is used to judge the cardiac silhouette as normal.
Case Discussion
The fluid was diagnosed as chylous effusion with mild neutrophilic inflammation. There was a cranial mediastinal mass identified at ultrasound, representing an enlarged lymph node with pyogranulomatous inflammation. The cat's feline infectious peritonitis antibody titer was high, resulting in a diagnosis of FIP.
The opacity in the right cranial thorax may be due to loculated fluid and atelectasis, or represent consolidation of the right cranial lung lobe.
Differential diagnoses for the pleural effusion include chylothorax, inflammatory disease such as pyothorax or feline infectious peritonitis, and transudate.
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