Unusual Ultrasonographic Features of Chronic Hypertrophic Pyloric Gastropathy in Two Dogs

This report describes the unusual ultrasonography features of chronic hypertrophic pyloric gastropathy in two dogs - a 12-year-old neutered male Pekingese (case 1) and an 11-year-old spayed female Shih Tzu (case 2) - with chronic vomiting and weight loss. Chronic hypertrophic pyloric gastropathy can be observed as the focal thickening of the pyloric wall with normal layers on ultrasonography images. However, in case 1, gastric neoplasia could not be ruled out because of the presence of regional lymph node enlargement; in case 2, an intussusception was tentatively diagnosed because of a mass within the pylorus, which appeared to be connected to the descending duodenum on the longitudinal image. In both cases, focally thickened pyloric walls were demonstrated through exploratory laparotomy, and the histopathological diagnosis of chronic hypertrophic pyloric gastropathy was made. Ultrasonography is useful for imaging the gastrointestinal tract, and the typical ultrasonographic features of chronic hypertrophic pyloric gastropathy have been reported. However, the possibility, that chronic hypertrophic pyloric gastropathy can present unusual ultrasonographic findings similar to those of tumors or intussusception, should also be considered.