Histomorphometric and ultrasonographic evaluations of the rumen in sheep

Rumen lesion can lower the performance of the animal and sometimes cause its death. Ultrasonography as a diagnostic method for the detection of lesions in the gastrointestinal tract is considered safe. In this study, three regions of rumen including the dorsal blind sac, ventral blind sac, and pillar [0.5 × 0.5 cm] from 10 healthy sheep rumen were sampled. Histomorphometric study of all samples were performed in the mucosal, submucosal, muscular and serosal layers. For ultrasonographic evaluation, samples from wall of rumen in 6 × 6 cm dimensions were used probe. The results showed that identification of all layers of rumen wall is feasible in sheep by histomophometry and ultrasonography techniques. Statistical analysis of the data showed no significant correlation between the parameters of the rumen wall in ultrasonography and histological study. The lack of correlation between ultrasonography and histological data may be due to the tissue changes which would occur during the process of preparing the tissue samples including tissue fixation, dehydration and clearing.

Keywords:

ultrasonography , histomorphometry , rumen , sheep