QUARTERLY BEAT
JULY 2026
WEBINAR HIGHLIGHTS
What happens when the ultrasound probe says, “There’s something there,” and now you need to collect cells to tell the whole story? In Part 1 of this 2-part VETgirl article series based on his February 24, 2026 webinar, To Poke or Not to Poke: Ultrasound Guided Needle Sampling of Abdominal Organs Dr. Marc Seitz, DACVR, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice), reviews the practical foundations of ultrasound-guided abdominal fine-needle aspiration, including patient preparation, equipment selection, sampling technique, and key safety considerations to help improve diagnostic yield while minimizing complications. Missed the webinar? Check it out HERE on-demand! TO POKE OR NOT TO POKE: ULTRASOUND GUIDED NEEDLE SAMPLING OF ABDOMINAL ORGANS (PART 2) Dr. Marc Seitz, DACVR, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice)
should be withdrawn from the patient when blood fills the hub to minimize the risk for hemodilution.
. INDIVIDUAL ORGAN CONSIDERATIONS
Individual tissue considerations are reviewed as follows. However, it is worth noting that fine needle aspirate (FNA)/fine needle non- aspiration (FN-NA) should be thought of more as a screening test that has variable agreement with histopathology, influenced heavily by the underlying etiology and the sampled tissue. For example, round cell neoplasms in the spleen are highly exfoliative whereas inflammatory hepatic diseases are poorly exfoliative. Additionally, FNA/FN-NA are overall better at ruling in disease rather than ruling out disease. Finally, FNA/FN-NA are more accurate at achieving a categorical diagnosis (e.g., neoplasia vs inflammatory disease) rather than a specific etiology. For example, one study (Bonfanti 2004) found an 89% agreement between FNA/FN-NA and histopathology for differentiating between neoplastic and inflammatory etiologies within a myriad of abdominal and thoracic tissues. In that study, FNA/FN-NA achieved the following: sensitivity 87.8%, specificity 100%, positive predictive value 100%, negative predictive value 56.3%. Spleen The spleen (figure 1) is one of the most commonly sampled organs due to its superficial location, high diagnostic yield, and low rate of complications despite being a highly vascular organ. Hemoperitoneum is expected following sampling, but usually small in volume, not clinically significant, and self-limiting. Care should be taken not to advance the needle through the far side of the spleen as this increases blood loss (Mattoon 2021). A non-aspiration technique yields greater cellularity with less blood contamination as compared to an aspiration technique. When performing a non-aspiration technique, the needle
Splenic sampling is most useful when infiltrative neoplastic or infectious disease is a differential. Although cavitated masses may have a lower yield, it is not wrong to aspirate them as a screening test to rule in neoplasia rather than try to rule it out. Agreement and correlation of splenic aspirates with histopathology is variable in the literature, ranging between 60-100% (Ballegeer 2007, O'Keefe 1987, Leblanc 2009, Watson 2011). As expected, correlation to the categorical diagnosis (e.g., reactive, inflammatory, or neoplastic) is higher than the exact etiologic diagnosis.
Ultrasound image of the spleen. Photo courtesy of Dr. Amy Kaplan-Zattler, cVMA, DACVECC, MRCVS.
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