Pleurisy is scored using the Slaughterhouse Pleurisy Evaluation System (SPES) method, although here in the Ceva Lung Program all cranial pleurisy is recorded as Cranial Pleurisy Scoring. Then the APPI is calculated for the A.p. induced dorso-caudal pleurisy.

Cranial Pleurisy Scoring

Cranial pleurisy can be attributed to pathological processes in this area which are likely related to M. hyo and other respiratory pathogens such as SIV, Pasteurella multocida and other bacteria. This cranial pleurisy should be recorded separately from the dorso-caudal pleurisy to allow the appropriate differential diagnosis. These lesions include pleurisy on the surface of the lung lobes or between lobes as interlobar pleurisy. Pleurisy in the apical and cardiac lung lobes are scored as follows:

Score 0 : No pleurisy in apical and cardiac lung lobes
Score 1 : Pleurisy in apical and cardiac lung lobes
Scoring of pleurisy in the apical and cardiac lung lobes

  

Dorso-caudal pleurisy based on S.P.E.S.

The SPES method facilitates the assessment of pleural lesions according to their location, appearance and extension. The SPES method is based on a point system from 0 to 4 based on the presence, the extension and position of pleurisy observed on both lungs of each animal directly on the slaughter line (Table 1).

• Table 1: Modified SPES grid for chronic pleuritis score

Pig lungs on the slaughter line. Score 2, 3 and 4 lesions.

Note the characteristic “stripping” in score 4 due to the tenacious adhesions between the parietal and visceral pleura with resulting laceration of the pulmonary tissue during the slaughter operations.