Research Article
Antonio Martinho Lopes,Anto
Abstract
Background In humans and rats the peritoneal surface area is described, but not the abdominal cavity surface area (ACSA). On the literature review undertaken, no discriminatory values of surface area of the abdominal cavity in cats were found. The objective of the study is to determine the ACSA in cats, through three-dimensional (3D) modeling. For this purpose it was performed a retrospective study of a series of cases of tomographic exams of cats, without changes in the abdominal cavity. Processing the digital images and through segmentation techniques was constructed the 3D model of the abdominal cavity of 26 cats, making it possible to determine its volume and surface area. Results The volume (mean ± standard deviation) of the abdominal cavity of cats was 6.59x10-4 ± 2.22 × 10-4 m3, and the area of abdominal surface 5.11x10-2 ± 9.86 × 10-3 m2. Conclusions The values determined provide not-existent anatomical information and contribute to the study of diseases affecting this area. The determination of this area allows its application in calculating and determining intraabdominal pressures and understanding them better. The same methodology can be used in other species for the determination and calculation of the abdominal surface area.