Cardiovascular-renal axis disorder and acute-phase proteins in cats with congestive heart failure caused by primary cardiomyopathy.

Background: Currently, the pathogenesis of congestive heart failure (CHF) in cats is not fully understood.

Objective: To identify novel biomarkers for CHF in cats caused by primary cardiomyopathy, particularly related to cardiovascular-renal axis disorder and systemic inflammatory response.

Animals: Twenty-five cats in CHF caused by primary cardiomyopathy, 12 cats with preclinical cardiomyopathy, and 20 healthy controls.

A pedigree-based genetic appraisal of Boxer ARVC and the role of the Striatin mutation.

The objective of this paper was to investigate by pedigree-based genetic means the origins and inheritance of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) in UK Boxers and assess the role of the proposed causal mutation in the gene, Striatin (STRN). All ARVC cases traced back to a small number of imported American dogs deriving from the group of Boxers studied by Harpster (1983) to define the disease, strongly suggesting that the disease is the same in the two countries. Dogs with and without the STRN mutation were found in both ARVC affected and normal Boxers showing that the mutation is not responsible for the disease.

Canine angiostrongylosis: an emerging disease in Europe.

Objective: The aim of this article is to review Angiostrongylus vasorum infection in dogs, including the life cycle, signalment, clinical signs, diagnosis, and treatment. Apparent changes in the epidemiology of this unique parasite are considered, alongside information available regarding its recent geographic spread.

Etiology: A.

Comparison of the effects of thiopentone and propofol on the electrocardiogram of dogs.

Sixty-four dogs were randomly assigned to receive either thiopentone or propofol and their electrocardiograms were recorded immediately before and shortly after they were anaesthetised. Thiopentone caused a marked increase in QT and JT intervals, a flattening of the T-wave and an increase in precordial QT dispersion. Propofol induced a less marked increase in QT and JT intervals, corrected for heart rate.

Immunoglobulin deficiency in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with Pneumocystis pneumonia.

Serum concentrations of immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, and IgA were measured in 9 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis sp that were examined at 4 veterinary surgeries in the United Kingdom (UK) between September 2001 and November 2002. Pneumocystis pneumonia was confirmed in all dogs by visualization of the organism in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid or a transthoracic lung aspirate. Two dogs had a history of demodicosis.

Thoracic high-resolution computed tomographic findings in dogs with canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Objectives: To identify features of canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (CIPF) using high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), and to correlate these features with clinical stages of the disease.

Methods: Ten dogs with signalment, history and clinical signs highly suggestive of CIPF were investigated. Thoracic radiography, haematology and biochemistry profiles, bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage and HRCT were performed in each case.

Feline idiopathic cardiomyopathy: a retrospective study of 106 cats (1994-2001).

The case records of 106 cats with idiopathic cardiomyopathy that presented to the Feline Centre of the University of Bristol between September 1994 and September 2001 were reviewed retrospectively. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) was the most common form seen (57.5%), followed by restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) (20.

Use of an implantable loop recorder to investigate syncope in a cat.

The Reveal is an implantable loop recorder. It is increasingly being used in humans for the diagnosis of unexplained syncope where it is believed that cardiac arrhythmias may play a role, and may have great potential for investigating syncope in veterinary patients. The purpose of this report is to describe the first use of the device in the diagnosis of unexplained syncope in a cat.

Aortic body chemodectoma causing pulmonary oedema in a cat.

A seven-year-old male domestic shorthaired cat was presented with persistent dyspnoea. Thoracic radiography and echocardiography revealed pulmonary oedema and a mass at the base of the heart. At necropsy the mass was found to be an aortic body chemodectoma that had metastasised to the sternal lymph node.

Alterations in the organisation, ultrastructure and biochemistry of the myocardial collagen matrix in doberman pinschers with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Remodelling of the collagen matrix of the myocardium has been implicated in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy, a major cause of heart failure in Doberman pinschers. The aim of this study was to characterise the myocardial collagen matrix of Dobermans. In clinically normal Dobermans there was evidence of focal fibrosis.

Tachyarrhythmia in a St Bernard dog.

A young St Bernard dog was referred on three separate occasions for investigation of dyspnea and exercise intolerance. Electrocardiography was performed on each occasion and showed various forms of supraventricular tachycardia with aberrant conduction. Echocardiography showed a progressive decrease in systolic function and thoracic radiographs showed progressive cardiomegaly.

Everted laryngeal saccules: ultrasonographic findings in a young Lakeland terrier.

The ultrasonographic appearance of laryngeal eversion due to bilateral laryngeal paralysis is described in a young Lakeland terrier.

Increased expression of promatrix metalloproteinase-9 and neutrophil elastase in canine dilated cardiomyopathy.

Objective: Canine dilated cardiomyopathy, commonly affecting Doberman pinschers, results in extracellular matrix remodelling within the myocardium. The aim of this study was to examine the proteolytic activity in myocardium from Doberman pinschers with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Methods: Samples of myocardium, obtained rapidly post mortem from the left ventricular free wall of Dobermans with dilated cardiomyopathy, clinically normal Dobermans and control dogs (non-Dobermans), were examined for proteolytic activity using substrate gel zymography.

Effects of sedation with detomidine hydrochloride on echocardiographic measurements of cardiac dimensions and indices of cardiac function in horses.

Twenty-six horses were sedated with detomidine hydrochloride (Domosedan, SmithKline Beecham Animal Health, Tadworth, Surrey, UK) at a dose of 10 micrograms/kg bwt, administered i.v. Echocardiograms were recorded before and after sedation, measurements of cardiac dimensions were made and functional indices were calculated.

Echocardiographic measurements of cardiac dimensions and indices of cardiac function in normal adult thoroughbred horses.

Cardiac dimensions and indices of cardiac function were measured in 29 clinically normal adult Thoroughbreds (TB) which performed minimal exercise using guided M-mode and two-dimensional (2-D) echocardiography, from a variety of image planes and measurement methods, and standardised imaging planes based on intracardiac anatomical landmarks. The different methods of measuring these variables were compared. The variables which were considered to be most valuable for quantitative echocardiography were measured in a further 9 horses.

Assessment of dose and time responses to TRH and thyrotropin in healthy dogs.

Changes in total thyroxine (T4 [TT4]), free T4 (FT4) and total tri-iodothyronine (T3 [TT3]) in serum after the intravenous administration of different doses of thyrotropin (TSH) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) were measured in six healthy beagles. Significant (P < 0.05) elevations in serum TT4, FT4 and TT3 were observed at each sampling time (two, four, five, six, seven, eight and 10 hours) after administration of 1, 3 or 5 iu (total dose) TSH and peak mean responses were observed six to eight hours after injection.

Hamartomatous polyps in the intestine of two dogs.

Partly obstructing, proliferative mucosal masses in the small intestine of two dogs were shown histologically to be hamartomatous polyps. They were characterized by an extension of smooth muscle from the muscularis mucosae into the lamina propria of the lesion. This is the first report of such lesions in domestic animals.