Ultrasonographic measurement of placental dimensions normal pregnant Boxers and its correlation to the gestational period

Abstract

Despite increasing research on reproduction in dogs, methods have not been developed to allow dating the gestation and predict the parturition day under definitive measurable parameters, as it has been done for human gestation. Ultrasonography is the most suitable method to this propose because it is painless, harmless for the mother and conceptus and no need of sedation. The aim of this study is to use ultrasonographic scannings to measure Boxer placenta dimensions and then verify the correlation between them and gestational period. Serial ultrasonographic examinations were performed in 10 pregnant Boxers, 2 or 3 times per week from the 18th day of gestation until the whelping, the used device was a portable GE®, Logic 100 MP, equipped with a sectorial transducer 5,0 MHz and another linear one of 7,5 MHz. Thickness and width of the placenta had been measured since the opportunity of detection until the end of gestation. Such informations had been located in graphs of dispersion of the measurement in function of the number of days before parturition. It was concluded that the measurements of selected parameters were consistent between studied gestations and highly correlated to the parturition day.