Nerve entry points in the mimic musculature of the horse head.

Facial expressions are important in pain recognition in horses, but current observation-based pain scales remain subjective. A promising technique to quantitatively measure subtle changes in expression patterns, including changes invisible to the human eye, is surface electromyography (sEMG). To achieve high-quality and reliable sEMG signals, unilateral placement of bipolar electrodes is required in relation to the motor endplates (MEP).

Biomechanical loading of the porcine femorotibial joint during maximal movements: An exploratory, ex vivo study.

Thus far, there is a lack of scientific investigation regarding the hypothesis that biomechanical factors contribute to the cross-species pathogenesis of osteochondrosis (OC). Therefore, the aim of this pilot study was to investigate whether high (peak) pressures occur in the porcine femorotibial (FT) joint. In this experimental, ex vivo study, the right hind limbs of seven weaned piglets were subjected to maximal joint excursions, as a priori radiologically estimated.

Comparative analysis of avian hearts provides little evidence for variation among species with acquired endothermy.

Mammals and birds acquired high performance hearts and endothermy during their independent evolution from amniotes with many sauropsid features. A literature review shows that the variation in atrial morphology is greater in mammals than in ectothermic sauropsids. We therefore hypothesized that the transition from ectothermy to endothermy was associated with greater variation in cardiac structure.

Hypoxia negatively affects senescence in osteoclasts and delays osteoclastogenesis.

Cellular senescence, that is, the withdrawal from the cell cycle, combined with the acquirement of the senescence associated secretory phenotype has important roles during health and disease and is essential for tissue remodeling during embryonic development. Osteoclasts are multinucleated cells, responsible for bone resorption, and cell cycle arrest during osteoclastogenesis is well recognized. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether these cells should be considered senescent and to assess the influence of hypoxia on their potential senescence status.

The development of hoof balance and landing preference in the post-natal period.

Background: Foals can follow the herd within hours of birth, but it has been shown that kinetic gait parameters and static balance still have to mature. However, development of dynamic balance has not been investigated.

Objectives: To objectively quantify landing and pressure pattern dynamics under the hoof during the first half year of life.

Trabecular and subchondral bone development of the talus and distal tibia from foal to adult in the warmblood horse.

Horses are precocial animals and able to stand and walk within hours after birth. To cope with associated loading, intrauterine bone development has shown to be anticipative. This study provides further insight into the post-natal development of structurally important features of trabecular and subchondral bone of the talus and sagittal ridge of the tibia of warm-blooded horses.

Effects of long-term use of the preferential COX-2 inhibitor meloxicam on growing pigs.

Meloxicam, a preferential COX-2 inhibitor, is a commonly used NSAID in pigs. Besides having potential side effects on the gastrointestinal tract, this type of drug might potentially affect osteogenesis and chondrogenesis, processes relevant to growing pigs. Therefore, the effects of long-term meloxicam treatment on growing pigs were studied.

The development of locomotor kinetics in the foal and the effect of osteochondrosis.

Reason For Performing Study: Foals stand and walk immediately after birth, but insight into the subsequent longitudinal development of their gait kinetics in the early juvenile phase and the possible influence of osteochondrosis thereon is lacking.

Objectives: To quantify gait kinetics in foals during the first half year of life, taking into account their osteochondrosis status.

Study Design: Prospective, cohort study performed at a single stud farm.

Trabecular bone of precocials at birth; Are they prepared to run for the wolf(f)?

Bone is a dynamic tissue adapting to loading according to "Wolff's law of bone adaptation." During very early life, however, such a mechanism may not be adequate enough to adapt to the dramatic change in environmental challenges in precocial species. Their neonates are required to stand and walk within hours after birth, in contrast to altricial animals that have much more time to adapt from the intrauterine environment to the outside world.

Functional locomotor consequences of uneven forefeet for trot symmetry in individual riding horses.

Left-right symmetrical distal limb conformation can be an important prerequisite for a successful performance, and it is often hypothesized that asymmetric or uneven feet are important enhancing factors for the development of lameness. On a population level, it has been demonstrated that uneven footed horses are retiring earlier from elite level competition, but the biomechanical consequences are not yet known. The objectives of this study were to compare the functional locomotor asymmetries of horses with uneven to those with even feet.

Assessment of articular cartilage and subchondral bone using EPIC-microCT in Labrador retrievers with incipient medial coronoid disease.

The aetiopathogenesis of medial coronoid disease (MCD) remains obscure, despite its high prevalence. The role of changes to subchondral bone or articular cartilage is much debated. Although there is evidence of micro-damage to subchondral bone, it is not known whether this is a cause or a consequence of MCD, nor is it known whether articular cartilage is modified in the early stages of the disease.

Delayed endochondral ossification in early medial coronoid disease (MCD): a morphological and immunohistochemical evaluation in growing Labrador retrievers.

Medial coronoid disease (MCD) is a common joint disease of dogs. It has a multifactorial aetiology, but the relationship between known causal factors and the disease has yet to be elucidated. As most of the published literature is clinical and it reports changes associated with advanced disease, it is not known whether the changes reflect the cause or consequences of the condition.

A rare anatomical variation: a case of a common celiacomesenteric trunk in a cat.

In this study, we present a cat with a common 1-cm-long celiacomesenteric trunk. The arteria hepatica branched off first from the separate arteria celiaca and gave rise to the arteria gastrica dextra and arteria gastroduodenalis. The main stem of the arteria celiaca then split into the arteria gastrica sinistra and the arteria lienalis.

The early development of medial coronoid disease in growing Labrador retrievers: radiographic, computed tomographic, necropsy and micro-computed tomographic findings.

Medial coronoid disease (MCD) encompasses lesions of the entire medial coronoid process (MCP), both of the articular cartilage and the subchondral bone. To detect the earliest signs of MCD, radiography and computed tomography were used to monitor the development of MCD in 14 Labrador retrievers, from 6 to 7 weeks of age until euthanasia. The definitive diagnosis of MCD was based on necropsy and micro-computed tomography findings.

Bone scintigraphy for the diagnosis of an abnormal medial coronoid process in dogs.

Few reports have been published regarding the use of scintigraphy in the diagnosis of elbow joint lameness in dogs. Some authors have speculated about the potential use of bone scintigraphy and its suspected high sensitivity for the early diagnosis of abnormalities of the medial coronoid process (MCP) in dogs. Scintigraphy is used routinely in our institution in dogs presented for thoracic limb lameness and/or suspected of abnormalities of the MCP when radiographic findings were equivocal.

Cartilage canals in the medial coronoid process of young Golden Retrievers.

The aim of the study was to establish the location of cartilage canals in the medial coronoid process (MCP) of the ulna of young Golden Retrievers, a breed that is predisposed to fractures of the medial coronoid process (FMCP). To determine whether the presence of cartilage canals could be associated with the predilection site of FMCP, the right elbows of nine young Golden Retrievers (aged 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 16, 18, 22 and 24 weeks) were dissected and, with no prior decalcification, the formaldehyde-fixed MCPs were embedded in methylmethacrylate. The entire MCPs were serially sectioned in the frontal plane from cranial to caudal and the sections (5 microm) were routinely stained.

Microcomputed tomography and histology of a fragmented medial coronoid process in a 20-week-old golden retriever.

A 20-week-old male golden retriever, which was not lame and showed no clinical signs of a fragmented medial coronoid process (FCP), was euthanased for another study and perfused intravenously with formaldehyde. Gross dissection revealed no abnormalities within the right elbow joint. The medial coronoid process was excised, embedded in methylmethacrylate, scanned in a microcomputed tomography (microCT) scanner and sectioned for histology.

Development of the subchondral bone layer of the medial coronoid process of the canine ulna.

The medial coronoid process (MCP) of the ulna takes part in the weight-bearing function of the elbow in quadrupedal animals. In this study, the timing of development of a solid subchondral bone layer (SBL) of the MCP in the dog is investigated, as this might be important in the pathogenesis of the fractured medial coronoid process, a common disease in young dogs of larger breeds. The SBL is considered to make an important contribution to the strength of the MCP.

Development of the trabecular structure within the ulnar medial coronoid process of young dogs.

This study describes the timing of development of the trabecular structure of the ulnar medial coronoid process (MCP) in the dog. The right MCPs of nine healthy golden retrievers, aged 4 to 24 weeks, without signs of secondary joint disease were dissected and scanned with microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) at a voxel size of 34 microm to determine histomorphometric parameters. Bone volume fraction and mean trabecular separation show a reciprocal pattern in time, reflecting an initial high bone density (and low trabecular separation), and then a sharp drop in density at 8-10 weeks, followed by a gradual increase to high values at 24 weeks.

Cartilage-free areas in the elbow joint of young golden retrievers.

The present study describes cartilage-free areas on the ulnar trochlear notch and the humeral condyle of eight very young golden retrievers with otherwise healthy elbow joints. Remarkably, the youngest dog with full-thickness cartilage-free areas was only 8 weeks old. The younger dogs showed no macroscopic abnormalities on the locations that were affected in the older dogs.

Gauged attenuation of congenital portosystemic shunts: results in 160 dogs and 15 cats.

Portosystemic shunts were ligated over a gauged stainless steel rod in 160 dogs and 15 cats, using a midline celiotomy. The diameter of the rod varied with the size of the shunt and the diameter of the portal vein cranial to the shunt. Shunts were narrowed to the smallest diameter that did not cause signs of portal hypertension such as cyanosis of the stomach, pancreas, and small intestine.

Comparison of air- and bone-conducted brain stem auditory evoked responses in young dogs and dogs with bilateral ear canal obstruction.

Brain stem responses to air- and bone-conducted stimuli were analyzed in 11 young dogs, using an in-the-ear transducer and a vibrator designed for human hearing tests, respectively. The mean thresholds were 0 to 10 dB for air-conducted stimuli and 50 to 60 dB for bone-conducted stimuli. The wave forms and inter-peak latencies of the waves of the auditory evoked responses elicited by air-conducted and bone-conducted stimuli were similar.

Destructive polyarthritis in a dog with leishmaniasis.

The clinical history and diagnosis of a dog with leishmaniasis involving both elbow joints and the skin is described. The dog, a female, five-year-old crossbreed, had been imported from Majorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) four years before the diagnosis was made. For two years, the dog had had bilateral forelimb lameness.

Immunoglobulin concentrations in nasal lavage fluids in dogs with non-specific rhinitis.

The pathophysiology of non-specific chronic rhinitis(NSCR) in dogs is still unknown. In this study the possible role of immunological mechanisms in NSCR is examined, by comparing immunoglobulin concentrations in nasal lavage fluids of dogs with NSCR with those of healthy dogs. The immunoglobulin IgA was detected in nasal lavage fluids of both groups of dogs and the differences in relative levels of IgA in dogs with NSCR were not significant.