Cervical Epidural and Subarachnoid Catheter Placement in Standing Adult Horses.

Horses underwent either cervical epidural space (CES) catheterization or subarachnoid space (SAS) catheterization while restrained in stocks, under deep sedation (detomidine and morphine) and local anesthesia (mepivacaine 2%) block. Catheters were placed under ultrasound guidance with visualization of the dura, SAS, and spinal cord between the first (C1) and second (C2) cervical vertebrae. Following sedation and sterile skin preparation, operator 1 placed under ultrasound guidance, a 6- or 8-inch Tuohy needle with the bevel oriented caudally.

A retrospective histologic study of 140 cases of clinically significant equine ocular disorders.

Ocular diseases are an important category in equine medicine; however, most articles regarding histologic ocular lesions in horses are exclusive to a specific condition and do not provide a complete review of clinically significant ocular disease frequency in a diagnostic laboratory. We reviewed sections of equine eyes from 140 cases (98 enucleations [biopsies] and 42 autopsies) with clinically relevant ocular alterations at 2 diagnostic centers in the United States. The most common primary conditions were non-traumatic keratitis (36), equine recurrent uveitis (ERU; 31), traumatic injuries (22), ocular and periocular neoplasms (19), and uveitis and/or endophthalmitis resulting from sepsis (18).

Toxicity and Efficacy Evaluation of an Adeno-Associated Virus Vector Expressing Codon-Optimized Delivered by Subretinal Injection in a Canine Model of X-linked Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC) is developing a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vector AGTC-501, also designated rAAV2tYF-GRK1-, to treat X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) in patients with mutations in the retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator () gene. The vector contains a codon-optimized human RPGR cDNA () driven by a photoreceptor-specific promoter (G protein-coupled receptor kinase 1 [GRK1]), and is packaged in an AAV2 capsid variant with three surface tyrosine residues changed to phenylalanine (AAV2tYF). We conducted a toxicity and efficacy study of this vector administered by subretinal injection in the naturally occurring mutant (X-linked progressive retinal atrophy 2 [XLPRA2]) dog model.

Theileriosis in Multiple Neonatal White-tailed Deer ( Odocoileus virginianus) in Delaware, USA.

Postmortem examination of 21 neonatal white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus) from Delaware, US identified six fawns with Theileria spp. organisms or suspected infection.

Evaluation of the genes encoding CD39/NTPDase-1 and CD39L1/NTPDase-2 in horses with and without abnormal hemorrhage and in horses with pathologic evidence of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage.

Background: Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) is a common disorder of equine athletes. The role of polymorphisms in genes encoding hemostasis-regulatory proteins in horses with abnormal hemorrhage is unknown.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the genes encoding 2 ectonucleotidases, CD39/NTPDase-1 and CD39L1/NTPDase-2, and one ecto-5' nucleotidase, CD73, in horses with abnormal hemorrhage or pathologic changes consistent with EIPH.

Hepatocellular carcinomas in Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs (Sus scrofa).

Various neoplasms have been reported in Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs (Sus scrofa) with few reports of hepatocellular tumors. Twenty-two pot-bellied pigs diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma at necropsy over a 3-year period at one institution are described, representing 29% of the total pot-bellied pigs necropsied. The average age of affected pigs was 16.

Intraocular nematodiasis in a llama (Lama glama).

This report describes a unique case of presumed migration of Parelaphastrongylus tenuis through the spinal cord into the eye of a llama where it survived and matured within the ocular environment. Blindness of the eye was most likely attributable to migration of the parasite through the central nervous tissue.

A modified laryngoplasty approach promoting ankylosis of the cricoarytenoid joint.

Objective: To perform a modification to the standard laryngoplasty procedure in vivo that would result in ankylosis of the cricoarytenoid (CA) joint, and determine the stability provided to the abducted arytenoid in vitro.

Study Design: Experimental study.

Animals: Horses (n=8).

Generalized cerebral atrophy seen on MRI in a naturally exposed animal model for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging has been used in the diagnosis of human prion diseases such as sCJD and vCJD, but patients are scanned only when clinical signs appear, often at the late stage of disease. This study attempts to answer the questions "Could MRI detect prion diseases before clinical symptoms appear?, and if so, with what confidence?"

Methods: Scrapie, the prion disease of sheep, was chosen for the study because sheep can fit into a human sized MRI scanner (and there were no large animal MRI scanners at the time of this study), and because the USDA had, at the time of the study, a sizeable sample of scrapie exposed sheep, which we were able to use for this purpose. 111 genetically susceptible sheep that were naturally exposed to scrapie were used in this study.

Acquired jejunal pseudodiverticula in a yearling Arabian filly.

Objective: To report a case of multiple acquired jejunal pseudodiverticula managed successfully by resection and jejunojejunostomy.

Study Design: Clinical report.

Animals: Arabian filly.

Effect of subcutaneous administration of a killed Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis vaccine on colonization of tissues following oral exposure to the organism in calves.

OBJECTIVE-To evaluate the effect of vaccination of calves with a killed Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (MAP) vaccine on colonization of tissues following oral MAP exposure. ANIMALS-12 healthy Holstein calves. PROCEDURES-At 14 days after birth, calves received the MAP vaccine (1.

Suspected panosteitis in a camel.

Case Description: A 6-month-old male Bactrian camel was examined because of a 3-week history of lameness of the left hind limb.

Clinical Findings: Lameness was initially detected in the left hind limb but resolved and was detected in the right hind limb during treatment. Lameness increased during periods of rapid growth.

Agreement in histologic assessments of the pituitary pars intermedia in aged horses.

Objective: To evaluate concordance among veterinary pathologists in the assessment of histologic findings in the pars intermedia of pituitary gland sections from aged horses with mild signs suggestive of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID). Sample Population-10 pituitary glands from aged horses.

Procedure: 7 pathologists were provided with signalment, clinical signs, and a single H&E-stained pituitary gland section from 10 aged horses with mild signs suggestive of PPID.

Zinc phosphide intoxication of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo).

Zinc phosphide (Zn3P2) is a rodenticide used to control a variety of small mammal species. It is available over-the-counter or as a restricted-use pesticide depending on how it is to be applied. The toxicity of Zn3P2 is dependent on the species exposed, whether the animal is able to vomit or not, and whether it is ingested on a full or empty stomach.

Myonecrosis and cutaneous infarction associated with Salmonella serovar Infantum infection in a horse.

A 5-year-old Quarter Horse mare was referred for evaluation of oral ulcers, limb edema, weight loss, and weakness. There was marked diffuse swelling extending from the stifle region to the tarsal region of the left hind limb, and the horse had a left hind limb lameness. Firm swellings ranging from 2 to 15 cm in diameter and consisting of nodules, plaques, and discrete masses were palpated on both sides of the neck, over the right shoulder region, over the left elbow region, and over the left caudoventral aspect of the abdomen.

In vivo evaluation of a new bioabsorbable self-expanding biliary stent.

Background: Bioabsorbable stents may offer advantages for the treatment of benign and malignant biliary strictures, including large stent diameter, decreased biofilm accumulation and proliferative changes, elimination of the need for stent removal and imaging artifacts, and prospects for drug impregnation. However, suboptimal expansion has hampered prior iterations. A new bioabsorbable biliary stent (BioStent) was evaluated in a porcine model.

Efficacy of commercial and field-strain Mycobacterium paratuberculosis vaccinations with recombinant IL-12 in a bovine experimental infection model.

The efficacy of commercial (Strain 18) and field-isolate paratuberculosis vaccine preparations was investigated. The effect of prior exposure to Mycobacterium paratuberculosis and the adjuvant effect of rIL-12 on vaccine efficacy were also tested. Both Strain 18 and field-isolate vaccines induced strong local, systemic and enteric IFN-gamma responses.