Diagnostic Applications of Ultrasonography to Testes and Accessory Sex Glands in Ongole (Bos indicus) Bulls

Abstract

Ultrasonography was performed on Ongole breeding bulls to evaluate the testes, epididymis, pampiniform plexus, ampulla and seminal vesicles as a part of breeding soundness examination and the findings were recorded. Trans-scrotal ultrasonography of the testis in longitudinal plane showed moderate echogenicity of the testicular parenchyma, while the mediastinum appeared as a high echogenic line in the middle and showed different hyperechogenic testicular tunics. The pampiniform plexus of the testis was revealed as a network of anechoic vascular lumen and hyperechoic vascular coiling giving a spotted appearance. The tail of the epididymis was recorded in the oblique plane near the distal pole of the testis as a less echogenic structure that was differentiated from the testicular parenchyma as a triangular area separated by a non-echogenic line. The prostrate body was a hyperechoic area located dorsal to the neck of the bladder. The ampullae which are located on the neck of the bladder appeared as two dorsal lines with non-echogenic linear lumen, while the glandular lining appeared as moderately echogenic line followed by hyperechogenic muscular wall. Seminal vesicles were examined lateral to the ampulla, above the neck of the bladder which appeared as irregular shaped isoechoic lobes of glandular tissue separated by hypoechoic regions. It is concluded that ultrasonography is a noninvasive technique that does not involve risk to the reproductive potential of the bull and helps to further characterize pathologies of the male reproductive tract by specifying the localization and nature of tissue changes associated with anomalies.