Comparison of left fourth and fifth intercostal space thoracotomy for open-chest cardiopulmonary resuscitation in dogs.

Objective: To determine whether ease of access to thoracic structures for performing open-chest cardiopulmonary resuscitation (OC-CPR) differed between fourth and fifth intercostal space (ICS) left lateral thoracotomies in dogs, and to determine if "shingling" improved access for OC-CPR manipulations.

Design: Prospective single-blinded study.

Setting: Laboratory.

Optimal filling solution for silicone Foley catheter balloons.

We assessed whether saline, sterile water, or air better maintained filling volume and diameter in a veterinary silicone Foley bulb. The bulbs of 45 8-French silicone Foley catheters were inflated: 15 with 5 mL of sterile water (SW bulbs), 15 with 0.9% saline (S bulbs), and 15 with air (A bulbs).

Comparison of ultrasonic Doppler flow monitor, oscillometric, and direct arterial blood pressure measurements in ill dogs.

Objective: To compare blood pressure measurements obtained via ultrasonic Doppler flow monitor (DOP) and 2 oscillometric noninvasive blood pressure monitors (CAR and PAS) to invasive blood pressure (IBP) in hospitalized, conscious dogs with a range of blood pressures.

Design: Prospective clinical study.

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Effects of temperature and handling conditions on lipid emulsion stability in veterinary parenteral nutrition admixtures during simulated intravenous administration.

Objective: To determine whether lipid particle coalescence develops in veterinary parenteral nutrition (PN) admixture preparations that are kept at room temperature (23 degrees C) for > 48 hours and whether that coalescence is prevented by admixture filtration, refrigeration, or agitation.

Sample Population: 15 bags of veterinary PN solutions.

Procedures: Bags of a PN admixture preparation containing a lipid emulsion were suspended and maintained under different experimental conditions (3 bags/group) for 96 hours while admixtures were dispensed to simulate IV fluid administration (rate, 16 mL/h).

Comparison of different tube materials and use of Chinese finger trap or four friction suture technique for securing gastrostomy, jejunostomy, and thoracostomy tubes in dogs.

Objective: To compare Chinese finger trap (CFT) and 4 friction suture (FFS) techniques to secure gastrostomy (GT), jejunostomy (JT), and thoracostomy (TT) tubes of different materials.

Study Design: Prospective experimental study.

Animals: Canine cadavers (n=20).

Long-term survival of dogs after cholecystoenterostomy: a retrospective study of 15 cases (1981-2005).

Fifteen dogs with extrahepatic biliary tract disease underwent cholecystoenterostomy. Long-term survivors were significantly older at presentation (mean age 140.5 months) than dogs that survived the first 20 days after surgery but subsequently died from causes related to the surgery or hepatobiliary disease (mean age 72 months).

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a trauma computerized tomography panel worth?

Background: There has been a progressive increase in the use of computerized tomography (CT) scans for evaluating trauma patients. The purpose of this study was to quantify that trend and consider the implications it holds for resource use.

Methods: Data were combined from the trauma registry and the radiology department's administrative information system at a level I trauma center to define the radiographic use patterns applied to all trauma activations during a 3-month sampling period in each of 4 years.

Comparison of three methods of temperature measurement in hypothermic, euthermic, and hyperthermic dogs.

Objective: To assess the reliability and accuracy of a predictive rectal thermometer, an infrared auricular thermometer designed for veterinary use, and a subcutaneous temperature-sensing microchip for measurement of core body temperature over various temperature conditions in dogs.

Design: Prospective study.

Animals: 8 purpose-bred dogs.

Biologic markers of breast cancer in nipple aspirate fluid and nipple discharge are associated with clinical findings.

Background: The aim of this prospective study was to assess predictive markers in nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) and pathologic nipple discharge (PND) collected prior to excisional breast biopsy, as well as clinical factors available prior to biopsy, with histopathologic results in women with a radiographically suspicious and/or palpable breast lesion.

Methods: 208 NAF samples from 191 women were evaluated for the following candidate predictive proteins and cellular markers: prostate-specific antigen (PSA), human glandular kallikrein 2 (hK2), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), S phase fraction (SPF), DNA index, and cytology. Clinical factors included whether or not the lesion was palpable, menopausal status, history of pregnancy, history of birth control or hormone replacement use, and PND.

Effect of combined simvastatin and cyclosporine compared with simvastatin alone on cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage in a canine model.

Object: The object of this study was to determine whether the combination of cyclosporine and simvastatin could ameliorate cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in a canine model to a greater extent than simvastatin alone.

Methods: Animals were assigned to one of three groups: control (five dogs), simvastatin alone (four), or simvastatin and cyclosporine (four). A double SAH model was used.

Nipple aspirate fluid color is associated with breast cancer.

Background: Fluid can be non-invasively aspirated from the breast nipple (nipple aspirate fluid, NAF). NAF may have many colors, including clear, white, yellow, green, and red/brown. While bloody spontaneous nipple discharge has been linked with breast cancer, the association of NAF color with cancer is not established.

Fiberoptic ductoscopy findings in women with and without spontaneous nipple discharge.

Background: Fiberoptic ductoscopy (FD), which allows direct visualization of the breast ductal lumen, is performed in women with and without spontaneous nipple discharge (SND). Previous reports suggested that cytologic evaluation of SND may be falsely interpreted as containing malignancy. The purpose of the current study, which was performed prospectively, was to determine whether ductoscopic findings were different in women with versus without SND, and to assess the implications of the differences in SND versus non-SND samples regarding the role of FD in assessing whether a woman has breast carcinoma.

Proteomic analysis to identify breast cancer biomarkers in nipple aspirate fluid.

Purpose: Proteomic analysis of breast nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) holds promise as a noninvasive method to identify markers of breast cancer. The objectives of the study were to: (a) describe the NAF proteome, (b) identify candidate markers of breast cancer in NAF by using proteomic analysis, and (c) validate the markers identified by using a quantitative, high-throughput ELISA analysis.

Experimental Design: For proteome analysis, NAF proteins from a single subject without breast cancer were separated by two-dimensional PAGE and were subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectometry identification.

Prostate-specific antigen expression in nipple aspirate fluid is associated with advanced breast cancer.

We previously demonstrated that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is present in breast nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) and its expression is inversely associated with the presence of breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine if PSA levels in NAF decrease with disease progression from DCIS to metastatic breast cancer. One hundred and forty-nine women underwent nipple aspiration before or in conjunction with surgery to treat their breast cancer.

Biomechanical comparison of median sternotomy closures.

Background: Poor healing of median sternotomy can significantly increase morbidity, mortality, and hospital costs. Effective union requires reliable sternal fixation. Although wire has proven the most reliable and widely used sternotomy closure material, no experimental studies have compared a large variety of wiring techniques in a human model.

Nipple aspirate fluid expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor predicts breast cancer diagnosis and advanced disease.

Background: Tumor expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and uPA receptor (uPAR) are breast cancer prognostic factors. Less is known about their usefulness in breast cancer diagnosis. Nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) is secreted into the breast duct and collected noninvasively, making it potentially useful both in breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

Association of uPA, PAT-1, and uPAR in nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) with breast cancer.

Purpose: Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), and uPA receptor (uPAR) are prognostic factors in various cancer types, especially breast cancer. Less is known about the usefulness of these markers in breast cancer diagnosis. We sought to determine (1) whether uPA, PAI-1, and uPAR were detectable in breast nipple aspirate fluid (NAF), a physiologic fluid produced by the breast and collected noninvasively, and (2) the association of these markers in NAF with the presence of breast cancer.

Postcardiotomy centrifugal assist: a single surgeon's experience.

Because of the infrequent application of cardiac assist devices for postcardiotomy heart failure, most published reports include the results of learning curves from multiple surgeons. Between October 1986 and June 2001, a single surgeon used 35 Sarns Centrifugal Pumps as ventricular assist devices in 21 patients with severe hemodynamic compromise after open heart surgery (0.88% incidence).

Measurement of body temperature by use of auricular thermometers versus rectal thermometers in dogs with otitis externa.

Objective: To compare measurements of body temperature obtained with auricular thermometers versus rectal thermometers in dogs with otitis externa.

Design: Prospective study.

Animals: 100 client-owned dogs: 50 with and 50 without clinical evidence of otitis externa.

Isolated lung chemotherapeutic infusions for treatment of pulmonary metastases: a pilot study.

A pilot study was designed to determine the feasibility of combining minimally invasive surgery techniques and cardiac surgical catheter technology to deliver high-dose unilateral pulmonary chemotherapy. Single lung ventilation general anesthesia was combined with catheter-based left pulmonary artery (PA) control in 4 mongrel dogs. p-Aminohippuric acid (PAH) was used to quantify leakage of pulmonary arterial infusate.

Tracheostomy: a risk factor for mediastinitis after cardiac operation.

Background: We studied whether tracheostomy after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is associated with higher incidence of mediastinitis and mortality, and whether shorter intervals between median sternotomy and tracheotomy are associated with higher incidence of mediastinitis.

Methods: Patients (n = 6,057) undergoing CABG since March 1977 were reviewed. Patients requiring tracheostomy and those developing mediastinitis were identified.

Laboratory confirmation of clinical heart allograft preservation variability.

Background: Previously, we reported survival differences from the national heart transplant registry favoring centers that used intracellular organ preservation solutions. To eliminate center selection bias, we tested some of these solutions in a biventricular working rat heart model to determine their relative efficacy.

Methods: Using 103 Sprague-Dawley rat hearts perfused with modified Krebs-Henseleit buffer, both ventricles functioned with adjustable independent preload and afterload and their pressure-length loops generated load-insensitive measurements of cardiac performance.

Efficacy of protamine zinc insulin for treatment of diabetes mellitus in cats.

Objective: To evaluate effects of protamine zinc insulin (PZI) on control of glycemia in cats with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus or poorly controlled diabetes.

Design: Clinical trial.

Animals: 67 diabetic cats.

Feline osteosarcoma: 145 cases (1990-1995).

Feline osteosarcoma (OSA) is a rare tumor in cats. Ninety (62%) of feline OSAs detailed in this study arose from the skeleton, and 55 (38%) arose from extraskeletal sites. Fifty OSAs originated in the appendicular skeleton, and 40 OSAs originated in the axial skeleton.