Transvenous embolization of patent ductus arteriosus in 16 dogs using the Amplatzer Vascular Plug II device: description of a modified technique and complications.

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a deadly congenital disease in dogs if left untreated. Occlusion of the defect is the treatment of choice and can be achieved by surgical ligation or interventional closure. In this retrospective study of 16 dogs, an alternative to the classically used canine device which is placed by an arterial route is described.

Effect of cilobradine in cats with a first episode of congestive heart failure due to primary cardiomyopathy.

Introduction: Heart rate (HR) is often elevated in cats with cardiomyopathies (CMPs). Pharmacologic modulation of HR may reduce cardiac morbidity and mortality.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of cilobradine vs.

Longitudinal Analysis of Quality of Life, Clinical, Radiographic, Echocardiographic, and Laboratory Variables in Dogs with Preclinical Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease Receiving Pimobendan or Placebo: The EPIC Study.

Background: Changes in clinical variables associated with the administration of pimobendan to dogs with preclinical myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) and cardiomegaly have not been described.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of pimobendan on clinical variables and the relationship between a change in heart size and the time to congestive heart failure (CHF) or cardiac-related death (CRD) in dogs with MMVD and cardiomegaly. To determine whether pimobendan-treated dogs differ from dogs receiving placebo at onset of CHF.

Effect of Pimobendan in Dogs with Preclinical Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease and Cardiomegaly: The EPIC Study-A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Pimobendan is effective in treatment of dogs with congestive heart failure (CHF) secondary to myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). Its effect on dogs before the onset of CHF is unknown.

Hypothesis/objectives: Administration of pimobendan (0.

Prognostic indicators in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Left atrial (LA) enlargement, congestive heart failure (CHF), and aortic thromboembolism (ATE) are associated with decreased survival in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), but the prognostic value of echocardiographic variables has not been well characterized.

Hypothesis/objectives: We hypothesized that LA echocardiographic variables and assessment of left ventricular (LV) diastolic and systolic function would have prognostic value in cats with HCM.

Animals: Two hundred eighty-two cats diagnosed with HCM.

Erythrocyte pyruvate kinase deficiency in three West Highland white terriers in Ireland and the UK.

Erythrocyte pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency is described for the first time in three apparently unrelated West Highland white terriers (WHWT) from Ireland and the UK. All three dogs were diagnosed with markedly regenerative but persistent anaemia and had been treated for presumed immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia (IMHA) before hereditary erythrocyte PK-deficiency was confirmed by breed-specific DNA mutation analysis. This hereditary erythroenzymopathy causes haemolytic anaemia and affects several canine breeds with varying degrees of severity.

Circulating natriuretic peptide concentrations in hyperthyroid cats.

Objectives: To assess the influence of thyroid function on natriuretic peptide concentration in hyperthyroid cats before and after treatment.

Methods: Serum natriuretic peptide concentration was measured in 61 hyperthyroid cats recruited from first-opinion clinics before and after treatment.

Results: Following successful treatment, total thyroxine, heart rate, systolic blood pressure and packed cell volume all decreased and bodyweight and creatinine concentrations increased.

Treatment of 11 dogs with meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown origin with a combination of prednisolone and cytosine arabinoside.

The records of 11 dogs with evidence of meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown origin were reviewed. Two of them had had a focal form of the disease and the other nine a disseminated form. The forebrain was involved in five of the nine dogs with disseminated disease, the brainstem in all nine and the cerebellum in one.

Transmission of a pestivirus infection in a population of Pyrenean chamois.

Outbreaks of a previously unrecorded disease have recently affected Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica) populations across the mountain range. A pestivirus was hypothesized to be the cause of this emerging disease and this type of virus can cross the species barrier and be transmitted to or from wildlife. Using an epidemiological survey conducted from 1995 to 2004 at Orlu, France, we characterized the virus and analyzed its transmission.

Atrial fibrillation in dogs with and without structural or functional cardiac disease: A retrospective study of 109 cases.

Objectives: To determine if the heart rate and survival of dogs with atrial fibrillation (AF) varied amongst those: (1) without structural and functional disease (Group NoDz), (2) with structural or functional disease without pulmonary edema or ascites (Group DzNoF), and (3) with structural or functional disease with pulmonary edema or ascites (Group DzF).

Animals, Materials And Methods: The records of 109 dogs from the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the University of Montreal (n=30) and the Cornell University Hospital for Animals (n=79) were examined.

Results: Large and giant breed dogs were most commonly affected (95.

[Air-conditioner disease. Results of an industrial medicine survey (author's transl)].

The results of a survey conducted in a company employing 1850 persons working in air-conditioned premises are reported. One hundred and five persons were examined, including 790 who mostly complained of respiratory disorders and 20 controls. Regular check-ups during the last two years have failed to reveal any serious disease.

[Anuric tubular nephritis caused by rifampicin allergy].

Starting again a Rifampicin treatment gave rise to an acute renal insufficiency, reversible by hemodialysis. This incident resulted from an immunopathological conflict revealed by the presence of anti-Rifampicin antibodies. Renal needle biopsy did not show any immune deposits.

[Fiberscopic transbronchial lung biopsy. Study of 100 cases].

The authors report their experience of 100 transbronchial pulmonary biopsies done during fibroscopy. The technique is easy; patients with respiratory insufficiency or bullous lesions are excluded. Biopsy is done blindly, without any brillance amplifier.