A 12-year-old female African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis) displayed lethargy and anorexia for 1 week. Radiographs detected a moderately reduced volume of aerated lung with lobulated margins with the left lung predominantly affected. Transcelomic ultrasound revealed marked consolidation of the left lung. Postmortem examination confirmed suppurative and histiocytic pneumonia, worse in the left lung, caused by Mycobacterium chelonae. Given that amphibian pulmonary consolidation and celomic effusion can have similar radiographic findings, ultrasound may be helpful to differentiate.
Keywords: amphibian; frog; histopathology; pneumonia; radiography; ultrasound.
© 2019 American College of Veterinary Radiology.