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This study investigated the prokinetic effect of metoclopramide and mirtazapine on gastric transit time (GTT), small bowel transit time (SBTT) and gastrointestinal transit time (GITT) during capsule endoscopy in four healthy beagle dogs. Four beagle dogs participated in the experiment as four groups at intervals of more than three days as the following: Control group 1 (capsule alone), Control group 2 (capsule alone), Metoclopramide administered group (metoclopramide + capsule) and Mirtazapine administered group (mirtazapine + capsule). The results of this study demonstrated there was no significant difference in GTT ([min] control group 1: 105 ± 90, control group 2: 172.5 ± 102 vs metoclopramide administered group: 247.5 ± 93, p = 0.07, 0.10) and SBTT ([min] control group 1: 120 ± 88, control group 2: 75 ± 39 vs metoclopramide administered group: 37.5 ± 15, p = 0.20, 0.18) for capsule only administered groups (control group 1 & 2) compared to metoclopramide administered group. In addition, there was no significant difference in GTT ([min] control group 1: 105 ± 90, control group 2: 172.5 ± 102 vs mirtazapine administered group: 127.5 ± 45, p = 0.56, 0.36) and SBTT ([min] control group 1: 120 ± 88, control group 2: 75 ± 39 vs mirtazapine administered group: 157.5 ± 38, p = 0.29, 0.07) between capsule only administered groups (control group 1 & 2) and mirtazapine administered group. In this study, the fact that metoclopramide might be ineffective and administration of mirtazapine might be inadequate in dogs were confirmed.

Background Combination therapy with glucocorticoids and adjunctive immunomodulating drugs has been generally accepted as a standard treatment regimen for meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown etiology (MUE). We hypothesized that treatment with MMF as an adjunctive agent along with glucocorticoids would be effective and well-tolerated protocol in dogs with MUE. Eighty-six dogs with MUE between May 2009 and June 2017 were included (59 females and 27 males; mean age of 5.93 years; mean body weight of 3.83 kg). The medical records of dogs with MUE treated with prednisolone and MMF were retrospectively evaluated to determine the therapeutic response, survival time, and treatment-related adverse effects. Results A partial or complete response (CR) was recorded for 75 dogs. The overall median survival time from the initiation of treatment was 558 days. Dogs that showed CR with no relapse over the treatment period (from diagnosis to death) had significantly longer median survival times. A significantly higher mortality hazard ratio of 4.546 was recorded in dogs that failed to achieve CR. The interval between the onset of clinical signs and the clinical presentation was not significantly associated with CR, relapse rate, and survival time. Adverse effects included gastrointestinal upsets in 26 dogs (30.23%), sporadic infections in 17 dogs (19.77%), and pancreatitis in seven dogs (8.14%). Conclusions The results suggest that adjunctive MMF treatment for MUE is safe and comparable to other immunosuppressive protocols. The treatment should focus on the achievement of CR and preventing relapse for successful management.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography in the detection of mild pneumothorax using computed tomography (CT) in dogs. Nine adult healthy beagles were included in the study. A thoracic tube was inserted into pleural space at the left thoracic wall, and each dog underwent the examinations in the order of CT, lung ultrasonography, and radiography before the infusion of room air into the pleural space. Two, 3, and 5 mL/kg infusions of room air were sequentially introduced into the pleural space and CT, lung ultrasound, and radiography examinations were performed. Sonographic signs included A-lines, stratosphere, lung sliding, lung point, lung pulse, and reverse sliding signs. Radiographs were evaluated for the absence or presence of a pneumothorax. Lung ultrasound results were more accurate than radiography results for the detection of mild pneumothorax. The overall sensitivity of the sonographic reverse sliding sign was higher than that of other sonographic signs, and its specificity was 100% for detection of mild pneumothorax. Thus, the reverse sliding sign is useful when using lung ultrasonography for diagnosis of mild pneumothorax.

This study was carried out to derive and evaluate reference computed tomography (CT)-based indices for normal canine spine. CT and magnetic resonance images were acquired from 12 clinically normal Beagle dogs (normal group) and 50 dogs with 56 spinal disorders (patient group). Image acquisition regions were cervical spine (C2-T1), thoracic spine (T1-T13), and lumbar spine (L1-L7). Measured indices were: the ratios of width to height of the spinal cord including the dura matter (CR) and of the vertebral foramen (FR), and the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the spinal cord to that of the vertebral foramen (CFAR). Reliability analysis was performed to evaluate intermodality agreement. Student's t-tests and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to discriminate the normal and patient groups on CT. Intermodality agreements of the normal and patient groups were acceptable to excellent. The highest discriminating levels of CR at the vertebral body level and the intervertebral disc space level were 1.25 or more and 1.44 or more, respectively. FR and CFAR had the highest discriminating level at the cervical region. This report presents quantitative information on canine spinal morphometry; the obtained indices may be helpful for CT screening of dogs with spinal disorders.

The present study aimed to investigate the technical feasibility of percutaneous endoscopic mini-hemilaminectomy via a uniportal approach, and to evaluate the possibility of decompression and endoscopic examination of the thoracic and lumbar spinal canals in small dogs during such procedures. Fresh canine cadavers of mixed-breed dogs (n=7) were used in this study. Following injection of a barium and agarose mixture (BA-gel) to stimulate intervertebral disc herniation, percutaneous endoscopic mini-hemilaminectomy was performed using a lateral approach to the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. BA-gel was removed to decompress the spinal cord using an elevator and rongeurs after mini-hemilaminectomy. Pre and post-operative computed tomography (CT) scans were obtained to evaluate surgical outcomes. Intra-operative complications, incision length, and procedure time were recorded. All procedures were completed with clear visualization of the spinal cord and floor of the spinal canal. The mean total operating time was 58.00 ± 18.06 min. Lengths of incision were under 1 cm in all dogs. Intra-operative complications included iatrogenic nerve root injuries caused by the micro-rongeur in two dogs. CT imaging revealed that removal of BA-gel resulted in sufficient spinal cord decompression. Our findings indicated that percutaneous endoscopic thoracolumbar mini-hemilaminectomy is feasible for spinal cord decompression and allows for adequate observation of the spinal canal. Thus, this technique may be an alternative surgical option for treatment of thoracolumbar disk disease in dogs.

An 8-month-old, intact male Maltese dog was referred to us because of anorexia, diarrhea, and jaundice. Hematologic examination revealed immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, and abdominal ultrasonography revealed heterogeneous changes in mesenteric fat and coarse echotexture in the splenic parenchyma. Septic peritonitis was diagnosed on the basis of a bacterial culture test of the peritoneal fluid. Exploratory laparotomy and subsequent omental biopsy and splenectomy were performed. On histopathological examination, the omental mass and splenic lesions were diagnosed as grain foreign body granulomas. This report describes a rare case in which a grain foreign body was embedded in the spleen of a dog.

A 1-year-old castrated male Schnauzer dog was presented with heart murmur. Auscultation revealed systolic murmur located at the left heart base (grade 5/6). There were no remarkable findings on thoracic radiographs. Two-dimensional echocardiography revealed subaortic tunnel-like obstruction at the entrance to the left ventricular outflow tract. Anterior mitral valve leaflet appeared to be tethered to septum with minimal motion. Chordae tendineae was abnormally thickened. Color Doppler analysis revealed turbulent flow starting below the aortic valve. Mitral regurgitation was presented during systole. Spectral Doppler recordings revealed high velocity flow through the aorta and mitral regurgitation. Based on echocardiographic examination, the dog was diagnosed with subaortic stenosis concurrent with mitral dysplasia. The patient was medicated with β-blocker and diuretics. It has been doing well without apparent clinical signs at 2 year after the diagnosis.

Anesthesia is an inevitably important component of diagnosis and treatments examining the health condition of wild animals. Not only does anesthesia become an essential tool in minimizing stress of the patients and providing an opportunity to deliver accurate and safe procedures, but it also ensures the safety of the medical crew members. This study was conducted to investigate the dose-response cardiorespiratory effects of isoflurane during spontaneous ventilation in ten cinereous vultures. Each bird was administered isoflurane at initial concentration of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 and then an end-tidal isoflurane concentrations (ETiso) of 1.0% for an equilibration period of 15 min in the given order. At the end of the equilibration period, the direct blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and end tidal CO2 partial pressure (PETCO2) were recorded, and blood gas analysis was performed. Increasing isoflurane concentrations during spontaneous ventilation led to dose-dependent increases in HR and PETCO2, with minimal changes in RR, decreased arterial BP and respiratory acidosis. Overall, isoflurane for anesthesia of spontaneously breathing cinereous vultures is a suitable choice for diagnostic or surgical procedures.

This study evaluated the feasibility of using texture analysis and machine learning to distinguish radiographic lung patterns. A total of 1200 regions of interest (ROIs) including four specific lung patterns (normal, alveolar, bronchial, and unstructured interstitial) were obtained from 512 thoracic radiographs of 252 dogs and 65 cats. Forty-four texture parameters based on eight methods of texture analysis (first-order statistics, spatial gray-level-dependence matrices, gray-level-difference statistics, gray-level run length image statistics, neighborhood gray-tone difference matrices, fractal dimension texture analysis, Fourier power spectrum, and Law's texture energy measures) were used to extract textural features from the ROIs. The texture parameters of each lung pattern were compared and used for training and testing of artificial neural networks. Classification performance was evaluated by calculating accuracy and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Forty texture parameters showed significant differences between the lung patterns. The accuracy of lung pattern classification was 99.1% in the training dataset and 91.9% in the testing dataset. The AUCs were above 0.98 in the training set and above 0.92 in the testing dataset. Texture analysis and machine learning algorithms may potentially facilitate the evaluation of medical images.

Wall conditioning and impurity monitoring systems are developed in Versatile Experiment Spherical Torus (VEST). As a wall conditioning system, a baking system covering the vacuum vessel wall partially and a glow discharge cleaning (GDC) system using two electrodes with dc and 50 kHz power supplies are installed. The GDC system operates with hydrogen and helium gases for both chemical and physical desorption. The impurity monitoring system with residual gas analyzer (RGA), operating at −5 Torr with a differential pumping system, is installed along with the optical emission spectroscopy (OES) system to monitor the hydrogen and impurity radiation lines. Effects of these wall conditioning techniques are investigated with the impurity monitoring system for ohmic discharges of VEST. The partial baking and He GDC show limited effects on plasma characteristics but sufficient H 2 GDC above 4 h enables the longer plasma current duration up to ∼15 ms within 3 h from the end of treatment.

Two dogs (Case 1: Poodle, 4 years old, spayed female; Case 2: Bulldog, 3 years old, intact female) were referred to us for treatment of vomiting; Case 1 had a history of acute vomiting that started 1 day prior to presentation, and Case 2 had a history of chronic vomiting that started 2 years prior to presentation. The vomiting did not respond to medication in the local animal hospital. Results from abdominal ultrasound examinations showed that case 1 had gastric wall thickening, and case 2 had no remarkable findings. For both cases, we performed gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations, and several biopsy samples were obtained from different gastric areas. On the basis of the results of histopathological examinations, both dogs were diagnosed with atrophic gastritis concurrent with a Helicobacter infection. Clinical signs improved after antibiotic therapy. This case report describes the clinical, endoscopic, and histopathological findings of atrophic gastritis concurrent with a Helicobacter infection.

Objective To examine the technical feasibility of percutaneous endoscopic pediculectomy using a lateral approach and to evaluate its use for decompression and examination of the thoracic and lumbar spinal canals in small dogs. Study Design Experimental study. Animals Clinically normal adult dogs (n=10). Methods After optimizing the technique in cadavers, percutaneous endoscopic pediculectomy was performed using a lateral approach to the thoracic (T12) or lumbar (L2) vertebrae in 5 dogs each. Using fluoroscopic guidance, a K-wire, dilator, and (cannula) working sleeve were placed. A window for visualizing the spinal cord and floor of the spinal canal was created using a specialized drill, rongeurs, trephine, and elevator. Gait and neurologic status were monitored postoperatively, and computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performed. Results All procedures were completed successfully (T12, 45 ± 13 minutes; L2, 59 ± 14 minutes) with clear observation of the spinal cord and floor of the spinal canal. Normal ambulation was maintained in 9 dogs. One dog in the L2 group had ipsilateral hind limb weakness that resolved within 4 days. One dog in the L2 group suffered a fracture of the accessory process. One dog each in the T12 and L2 groups had hyperintense lesions on T2-weighted MRI images, suspicious of focal edema, which reduced at 4 weeks after initial examination, possibly reflecting gliosis. Conclusion Pediculectomy using a percutaneous endoscopic thoracolumbar lateral approach is feasible, provides a good view of the spinal canal, and may be an alternative for treatment of disk disease in dogs.

A 6-year-old male domestic shorthair cat was referred to Gyeongsang National University Animal Medical Center for labored breathing. According to the patient’s history, the client had fed him commercial dog foods. The patient’s hematological, radiographic, and echocardiographic examinations were evaluated for diagnosis. Echocardiography results showed marked dilations of ventricles and atriums and mitral regurgitation. A systolic dysfunction was detected. Plasma taurine concentration was lower than the reference range. Based on these results, the patient was diagnosed with feline dilated cardiomyopathy associated with taurine deficiency. Treatment included feline commercial foods, taurine, digoxin, furosemide, and clopidogrel. Digoxin was changed to pimobendan when normal blood pressure was achieved. Clinical signs improved gradually and no abnormalities were detected on echocardiograms at 10 weeks following onset of treatment.

An 11-month-old, 19.5 kg, intact male Border collie was referred with intermittent left forelimb lameness to the Gyeongsang Animal Medical Center. The symptom was first discovered about 6 months ago, and it has gotten worse for the last 10 days with non-weight bearing on the left forelimb. During the physical examination, the patient showed painful reaction when the left shoulder was abducted. On radiographic assessment, a radiolucent line and some osteophytes were found in both humeral heads. Based on patient’s clinical signs and radiographic findings, osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) was very suspicious. So, we decided to perform an arthroscopic surgery on left shoulder for definitive diagnosis and treatment because the right forelimb revealed no clinical signs. During arthroscopic technique, we found a large OCD flap on the caudo-central area of humeral head, and observed severe synovitis over a wide range on posterior area of the articular capsule. The large OCD flap was removed by a grasping forceps, and many joint mice were removed either. Curettage was performed using a curette on the articular surface until hemorrhage occurred, and articular capsule flushed with a lactated-ringer’s solution. The patient was discharged on the same day without any specific abnormal status. Antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs were administered. Mild lameness on left forelimb was observed in 2 weeks after surgery, but after 4 weeks, the patient showed complete normal gait without any lameness. Although surgical removal of OCD flap with arthroscopic was previously reported, We would like note that a large OCD flap can also be removed by arthroscopic surgery in this report.

Four dogs and two cats received laparoscopic or laparoscopic-assisted biopsy of abdominal organs for definite diagnosis of illness. Patients were presented with a chief complaint of acute or chronic vomiting excluding case 5 (seizure). Two patients needed the liver biopsy (case 1 and 5), and others did stomach and small intestine biopsy excluding case 2 (small intestine biopsy only). Surgical procedure was performed with modified standard methods. All patients recovered uneventfully and did not require any hospitalization without complications. Laparoscopic and laparoscopic-assisted biopsy could offer benefits of reduced incision length and rapid postoperative recovery.

A 16-month-old intact female Maltese dog was referred for examination of depression and vomiting. Ultrasonography revealed dilated right renal pelvis containing echogenic fluid with free gas. A hyperechoic material suspected of urolith was identified in the right ureter. Computed tomography revealed emphysematous change of the right kidney associated with ureteral obstruction and extrahepatic portosystemic shunt (EHPSS). Ureteronephrectomy and surgical correction were performed for the EHPSS. Escherichia coli was isolated from pus from the right kidney. Quantitative analysis revealed that the urolith was an ammonium urate stone. After 5 months follow-up, no complication was observed. This is the first report of emphysematous pyonephrosis associated with EHPSS in a dog.

The purpose of this study was to propose a standard for differentiation between normal dogs and patients with hyperadrenocorticism (HAC) by measuring skin thickness via ultrasonography in small breed dogs. Significant changes in skin thickness of patients treated with prednisolone (PDS) or patients with HAC treated with trilostane were evaluated. Skin thickness was retrospectively measured on three abdominal digital images obtained from small breed dogs weighing < 15 kg that underwent abdominal ultrasonography. Mean skin thickness of normal dogs was 1.03 ± 0.25 mm (mean ± SD). Both the HAC and PDS groups showed significantly thinner skin than that in the normal group. Seven of the 10 HAC patients treated with trilostane had increased skin thickness. The area under the curve value of 0.807 was based on the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve for differentiating normal dogs from HAC patients. Sensitivity was 76% and specificity was 73% when skin thickness was less than the 0.83 mm cutoff value. In conclusion, measurement of skin thickness in small breed dogs by using ultrasonography is likely to provide clinical information useful in differentiating HAC patients from normal dogs. However, exposure to PDS, trilostane, and other conditions may have a significant effect on skin thickness.