Assessment of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae-induced Pneumonia using Different Lung Lesion Scoring Systems: a Comparative Review

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is the primary aetiological agent of swine enzootic pneumonia (EP) and one of the major contributors to the porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC). Gross lung lesions in pigs affected by EP consist of cranioventral pulmonary consolidation (CVPC), usually distributed bilaterally in the apical, intermediate, accessory and cranial parts of the diaphragmatic lobes. Several lung scoring methods are currently in place for the evaluation of CVPC. The aims of this study were (1) to review the lung lesion scoring systems used to assess pneumonia associated with M. hyopneumoniae infection, and (2) to evaluate eight of these scoring systems by applying them to the lungs of 76 pigs with experimentally-induced M. hyopneumoniae pneumonia. A significant correlation between all lung lesion scoring systems was observed and the coefficients of determination in a regression analysis were very high between each pair-wise comparison, except for a unique scoring system based on image analysis. A formula of equivalence between lung scoring methods was developed in order to compare the results obtained with these methods. The present review provides a basis for comparison (even retrospectively) of lesions evaluated using different lung scoring systems.