Comparison of ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnosis of ovarian follicular dysplasia in Florida beef herds

Abstract

Studies commissioned by the Florida Cattleman's Association in 2007 and 2016 found ovarian follicular dysplasia (OFD) as a primary cause of infertility in Florida beef cows. Ovarian follicular dysplasia (OFD) is a slowly progressive bilateral abnormal growth and/ or development of ovarian follicles eventually transforming into Sertoli-form Granulosa Cell Tumor. Later stages OFD, grades III and IV, seem to be able to be reliably detected via ultrasound examination of the ovaries using a 7 MHz probe. The objective of this study was to determine the variation in ante-mortem and post-mortem ultrasound examination when compared to histologic findings utilizing a 7 and 8.5 MHz ultrasound probe. Our hypothesis was that a 7 or 8.5 MHz ultrasound could be utilized for detection of earlier stages of OFD.