Clinical, surgical, and pathological findings in client-owned rabbits with histologically confirmed appendicitis: 19 cases (2015-2019).

Objective: To report clinical, surgical, and pathological findings in client-owned rabbits with histologically confirmed appendicitis.

Animals: 19 rabbits.

Procedures: Medical records for client-owned rabbits that had a histologic diagnosis of appendicitis were reviewed.

Major Trauma in Elderly Patients: Worse Mortality and Outcomes in an Italian Trauma Center.

Introduction: Major trauma is the leading cause of mortality in the world in patients younger than 40 years. However, the proportion of elderly people who suffer trauma has increased significantly. The purpose of this study is to assess the correlation of old age with mortality and other unfavorable outcomes.

Klebsiella sp.-related infectious spondylitis in a bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps).

Background: Spondylitis is an inflammation of the vertebrae that leads to a destructive process with exuberant new bone formation. Osteomyelitis can produce a distortion of the bone architecture, degenerative joint changes and ankyloses of adjacent vertebrae. In reptiles, intervertebral discs are absent, so the term discospondylitis is not used.

Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy: Overview of an Emerging Medical Problem from Pathophysiology to Outcomes.

Coagulopathy induced by major trauma is common, affecting approximately one-third of patients after trauma. It develops independently of iatrogenic, hypothermic, and dilutive causes (such as iatrogenic cause in case of fluid administration), which instead have a pejorative aspect on coagulopathy. Notwithstanding the continuous research conducted over the past decade on Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy (TIC), it remains a life-threatening condition with a significant impact on trauma mortality.

Trauma Coagulopathy and Its Outcomes.

Trauma coagulopathy begins at the moment of trauma. This study investigated whether coagulopathy upon arrival in the emergency room (ER) is correlated with increased hemotransfusion requirement, more hemodynamic instability, more severe anatomical damage, a greater need for hospitalization, and hospitalization in the intensive care unit (ICU). We also analyzed whether trauma coagulopathy is correlated with unfavorable indices, such as acidemia, lactate increase, and base excess (BE) increase.

Acute tea tree oil intoxication in a pet cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus): a case report.

Background: Phytotherapy is becoming a more and more common practice, not only for personal care but also for pet care. Nevertheless, we often have to deal with substances on which, in most cases, very little literature is available, even more so if the species of interest are the exotic ones. In particular, the essential oil from the Melaleuca leaves, because of its antinflammatory and antibacterial properties, is widely used and very little is known about its potential toxicity on pet birds.

The influence of age on the recovery of the ERG photostress test.

Introduction: Focal ERG associated with photostress test could be a useful diagnostic method for evaluating macular visual function. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of age on the recovery time constant of the ERG photostress test. The second aim was to assess the sources of variability which affect the measurements.

[Present trends and controversies in the use of beta-blockers in cardiovascular diseases].

In this paper we summarize present trends and controversies in the use of beta-blockers in cardiovascular diseases. Beta-blockers are catecolamine competitive inhibitors and act through alpha and beta adrenergic receptors blockade. Different agents have a dose-dependent affinity for different beta adrenergic receptors (beta 1, beta 2, beta 3) which is less with higher doses.

Coronary slow-flow causing transient myocardial hypoperfusion in patients with cardiac syndrome X: long-term clinical and functional prognosis.

Background: We investigated the possibility that transient coronary slow-flow as assessed during coronary angiography in patients with cardiac syndrome X may impair myocardial perfusion and the effects of this phenomenon on long-term prognosis.

Methods: From 50 consecutive patients with cardiac syndrome X, we prospectively recruited 16 who exhibited coronary slow-flow during angiography. The remaining 34 patients served as controls.

Mutations in coagulation factors in women with unexplained late fetal loss.

Background: Factor V and prothrombin-gene mutations are independent risk factors for venous thrombosis; it is debated whether a mutation in the gene encoding methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, an enzyme involved in homocysteine metabolism, also increases the risk of venous thrombosis. Whether any of these mutations is associated with an increased risk of late fetal death is not known.

Methods: We studied 67 women with a first episode of unexplained late fetal loss (fetal death after 20 weeks or more of gestation) and 232 women who had had one or more normal pregnancies and no late fetal losses.

Epidemiology and natural history of hepatitis G virus infection in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Unlabelled: Patients on chronic hemodialysis (HD) have recently been identified as having a high prevalence of hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection. The clinical significance of HGV in this population remains unclear, with no data available as to the acquisition and natural history of HGV infection in this group.

Aims: To assess the prevalence and risk factors of HGV in a large cohort of chronic HD patients, and to evaluate the incidence and clinical consequences of HGV over time in this population.

Epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori in chronic haemodialysis patients using the new RIBA H. pylori SIA.

Background: There are few data concerning the epidemiology of H. pylori in patients on chronic haemodialysis (HD) treatment. These surveys concerned small populations and were made with ELISA technique.

Detection of de novo hepatitis C virus infection by polymerase chain reaction in hemodialysis patients.

Patients on chronic hemodialysis (HD) treatment have been identified by serological testing, including second- and third-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), as a high-risk group for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Previous studies have shown that de novo cases of HCV may occur in HD units in the absence of other parenteral exposures, which suggests the spread of HCV between patients. In addition, the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which directly detects HCV virus, has identified HCV infection in chronic HD patients who are seronegative.

Quantitative assessment of HCV load in chronic hemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional survey.

Unlabelled: Recent evidence has been accumulated showing that chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients have a very high prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV). In contrast, there is little information addressing the virological characteristics of HCV infection in this population.

Aim: To measure HCV viral load and to correlate this with demographic, biochemical, and clinical features of a large cohort of HCV-infected patients on chronic HD.

Acquisition of hepatitis C virus in hemodialysis patients: a prospective study by branched DNA signal amplification assay.

Serological data indicate that hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is very common among chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. Circumstantial evidence suggests that hemodialysis per se is an important risk factor for this infection. We used a novel methodology, the branched DNA (bDNA) signal amplification assay, which is capable of detecting HCV RNA and of quantifying HCV viral load in serum, to prospectively determine the rate of acquisition of HCV infection in 274 anti-HCV-negative patients undergoing HD treatment in four hemodialysis units.

Impaired left ventricular filling dynamics in patients with angina and angiographically normal coronary arteries: effect of beta adrenergic blockade.

Objective: To assess exercise performance and resting left ventricular filling dynamics in patients with syndrome X (SX) in basal conditions and after 10 days treatment with oral atenolol.

Design And Patients: Exercise performance was studied and left ventricular filling assessed by Doppler-derived transmitral flow pattern analysis in 22 patients (16 female, mean (SD) age 53 (4) years) with angina, a positive exercise test, and angiographically smooth coronary arteries. Patients were studied after two 10 day treatment periods with either atenolol or placebo in a single-blind, randomised, crossover trial.

Thrombolytic therapy reduces the incidence of left ventricular thrombus after anterior myocardial infarction. Relationship to vessel patency and infarct size.

Background: Controversial evidence exists as to whether thrombolytic therapy reduces the incidence of left ventricular thrombus in acute myocardial infarction and, if so, how this relates to successful reperfusion.

Methods: Four hundred and eighteen consecutive patients underwent echocardiography and coronary angiography within 3 weeks of an acute myocardial infarction. A dyssynergic score was calculated by analysing regional wall motion in 18 left ventricular segments.

Protein S and protein C anticoagulant activity in acute and chronic cardiac ischemic syndromes. Relationship to inflammation, complement activation and in vivo thrombin activity.

Protein S (PS) and protein C (PC) anticoagulant activities and thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT) were measured in 20 patients with AIS, 25 patients with chronic stable angina (CSA) and a control group (C). Although plasma levels of TAT were significantly elevated in patients with CSA (p < 0.01 vs C), they were much higher in patients with AIS (p < 0.

Spontaneous variability of regional haemodynamics in unanaesthetized rats.

Aim: To study the spontaneous variability in regional haemodynamics.

Methods: Twenty normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats were chronically instrumented with an arterial catheter and with pulsed Doppler flowmeters on the distal aorta, and the superior mesenteric and left renal arteries. After surgical recovery, the rats were monitored in unrestrained conditions.

Alterations in cardiac parasympathetic function in aged rats.

Aging impairs sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiac control. Although the reduced sympathetic responses are known to depend on an age-related cardiac beta-adrenoceptor dysfunction, the hypothesis of a parallel cardiac muscarinic receptor dysfunction underlying the reduced parasympathetic responses has never been tested. We therefore measured the bradycardic responses to graded electrical stimulations of the right efferent vagus and to graded bolus intravenous injections of acetylcholine in anesthetized, vagotomized rats of young (16 wk) and old (103 wk) age.

Role of the sympathetic nervous system in the pathogenesis of chronic stable angina. Implications for the mechanism of action of beta-blockers.

Thirteen patients with chronic stable effort angina underwent continuous ambulatory electrocardiographic and intra-arterial blood pressure monitoring during normal unrestricted daily activity. Each patient underwent two studies, the first while on no treatment and the second while on beta-blocker therapy. During the control period, we recorded 182 episodes of transient ST-segment depression, of which only 30 were associated with angina, and 43 (24%) were apparently caused by increased myocardial oxygen demand.

Atrial natriuretic factor and arterial baroreceptor reflexes in unanesthetized rats.

The modulation exerted by atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) on the cardiac and vascular influences of arterial baroreceptors was investigated in two groups of unanesthetized, chronically instrumented normotensive rats. In group 1, the reflex control of heart rate was assessed by graded baroreceptor stimulations and deactivations obtained by intravenous boluses of phenylephrine and nitroprusside. Under either circumstance, baroreceptor reflex sensitivity was expressed as the linear regression slope relating the chronotropic responses to the drug-induced mean arterial pressure changes.

Age-related alterations in cardiac parasympathetic responsiveness: a preliminary report.

Baroreceptor control of the heart rate is reduced by ageing in animals and man. This has been ascribed to an age-related reduction in beta-adrenergic receptor density and cardiac responsiveness to sympathetic modulation. However, the baroreceptor-heart rate reflex largely depends on the vagus and the age-related changes in cardiac parasympathetic responsiveness have never been tested directly.