Successful complete vaginectomy in dorsal recumbency: description of surgical technique without repositioning combining celiotomy and episiotomy in three dogs.

Objective: To describe a simultaneous surgical approach to the abdominal cavity and perineum for complete vaginectomy performed in dorsal recumbency and to create a schematic for guiding the procedure without the need for patient repositioning.

Animals: 3 client-owned dogs with urogenital pathology.

Clinical Presentation: The first dog, an 11-year-old neutered female Border Collie, presented with stranguria and tenesmus.

Acute upper airway obstruction as a life-threatening complication of ventral bulla osteotomy: report of two consecutive cases.

Case Summary: This paper presents two cases of acute postoperative upper airway obstruction following ventral bulla osteotomy (VBO) in cats. The first cat underwent a unilateral left-sided VBO for a suspected inflammatory polyp. The second cat underwent a single-session bilateral VBO procedure for bilateral otitis media.

Specific contrast ultrasound using sterically stabilized microbubbles for early diagnosis of thromboembolic disease in a rabbit model.

Specific contrast ultrasound is widely applied in diagnostic procedures on humans but remains underused in veterinary medicine. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of microbubble-based contrast for rapid ultrasonographic diagnosis of thrombosis in small animals, using male New Zealand white rabbits (average weight about 3.5 kg) as a model.

Gal-knockout bioprostheses exhibit less immune stimulation compared to standard biological heart valves.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Current biological heart valves (BHVs) contain the major xenogeneic antigen Gal. Recipient anti-Gal antibody binding to such an implanted BHV may contribute to valve degeneration. The study aim was to compare, by implantation in non-human primates, the immune consequences of BHVs from Gal-positive wild-type (WT) pigs and those from alpha-galactosyltransferase knockout (GTKO) pigs.

Evaluation of a novel vascular graft with a distal bifurcation designed to reduce the development of intimal hyperplasia. Experimental study in a porcine aorta model.

Objective: Abnormal haemodynamics is commonly agreed to be a major contributor to the development of distal anastomotic intimal hyperplasia. A new vascular graft design proposed by computational studies was used to demonstrate its surgical feasibility and to compare it with the conventional graft in a porcine model.

Method: The device was used in 12 eight-month-old pigs, six received the new graft and six had a conventional graft.

A prototype 'Infucon' device for continuous infusion of microbubbles in vivo.

A device for continuous infusion of microbubbles (MBs) 'Infucon' has been designed, constructed and tested on rabbits. The device prevents MBs from flotation and accumulation in the layer directly below the surface in the syringe injection during i.v.

Endovascular brain intervention and mapping in a dog experimental model using magnetically-guided micro-catheter technology.

Aim: Despite the substantial progress that has been achieved in interventional cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology, endovascular intervention for the diagnosis and treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as stroke, epilepsy and CNS malignancy is still limited, particularly due to highly tortuous nature of the cerebral arterial and venous system. Existing interventional devices and techniques enable only limited and complicated access especially into intra-cerebral vessels. The aim of this study was to develop a micro-catheter magnetically-guided technology specifically designed for endovascular intervention and mapping in deep CNS vascular structures.

Experimental model of myocardial infarction: Histopathology and reperfusion damage revisited.

The goal of this pilot study was to create an experimental model of myocardial infarction (for subsequent evaluation of the effectiveness of an alternative way of stem cell application - intracoronary cell infusion in the management of acute myocardial infarction). Four experimental animals, female pigs weighing between 30 and 40 kg, were used in the initial phase of this study to create an experimental model of acute myocardial infarction. An experimental myocardial infarction was performed via occlusion of the interventricular arm of the left coronary artery for 90 min.

Direct comparison of enoxaparin and nadroparin in a rabbit model of arterial thrombosis prevention.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of standard unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low-molecular weight heparins (LMWH's).

Materials And Methods: We modified a previously published rabbit model of arterial thrombosis prevention [1,2] to compare unfractionated heparin and two different doses of two low-molecular weight heparin fragments--nadroparin and enoxaparin. Thrombosis in the distal aorta was triggered by vessel wall injury and critical stenosis.

Intracoronary delivery of bone marrow cells to the acutely infarcted myocardium. Optimization of the delivery technique.

Objectives: Intracoronary cell transplantation during catheter balloon inflations may be associated with adverse events. We studied the effectiveness of an alternative transplantation technique--intracoronary cell infusion.

Methods: Fourteen pigs, which had survived acute myocardial infarction, were randomized into 2 treatment groups and 2 controls.

Antithrombin-heparin covalent complex: a possible alternative to heparin for arterial thrombosis prevention.

Background: The anticoagulant effect of heparinoids is attributed to their cofactor activity for antithrombin (AT) and heparin cofactor II. In patients with thrombosis, however, thrombin is often protected from AT-dependent, heparin-mediated inactivation. The purpose of this study was to compare the properties of unfractionated/standard heparin (UFH/SH) and those of a novel covalent AT-heparin complex (ATH) in a rabbit arterial thrombosis prevention and bleeding model.