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OBJECTIVE: To describe the H-pharyngoplasty procedure, report the outcomes of dogs with brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) treated with ala-vestibuloplasty and H-pharyngoplasty with a C02 laser, and identify prognostic factors. ANIMALS: 423 dogs. PROCEDURES: Medical records of dogs admitted for BOAS from 201 I to 2017 were reviewed. Dogs were included if they were treated with ala-vestibuloplasty and H-pharyngoplasty with a C02 laser. Signalment, physical examination findings, grades at admission of clinical signs associated with respiratory and digestive systems, diagnostic test results, postoperative treatments, and short-term follow-up results were extracted from medical records. Long-term follow-up of > 12 months was evaluated via questionnaire. Generalized ordered logistic regression was used for bivariable and multivariable analyses. RESULTS: Overall mortality rate was 2.6%. Median duration of follow-up was 36 months (12 to 91 months), and 341 (80.6%) dog owners completed the questionnaire. Major complications included respiratory distress (2.1%), heatstroke (0.5%), and bronchopneumonia (0.5%). No dogs required revision surgery. Improvement in signs associated with the respiratory and digestive systems was reported in 72% and 34% of the dogs, respectively, and owners' satisfaction was high (97.1 %). Risk of death increased by 29.8% (95% Cl, 11.8% to 50.7%) for every 1-year increase in age. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: H-pharyngoplasty was possible in all dogs with BOAS, including those previously treated with conventional surgery and was associated with low morbidity and improved respiratory and digestive signs. H-pharyngoplasty combined with ala-vestibuloplasty may be an alternative treatment for even the most severely affected dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The origin of cough in dogs with heart murmurs is controversial, because the cough could be primary cardiac (eg, pulmonary edema, bronchi compression by left‐sided cardiomegaly) or respiratory (eg, bronchomalacia, other bronchial or bronchiolar disease, interstitial lung disease) in origin. Hypothesis/Objectives: To study the association between left atrium (LA) dilatation and cardiomegaly and bronchial narrowing in coughing dogs with heart murmurs using computed tomography (CT). Animals Twenty‐one client‐owned coughing dogs with heart murmurs and 14 historical control dogs. Methods: Dogs with cough and murmur were prospectively recruited over 4 months. Cervical and thoracic radiography, echocardiography, and thoracic CT were performed in enrolled dogs. Control dogs, with no disease on thoracic CT and no records of heart murmur and coughing, were gathered from the institution's computerized database. Degree of bronchial narrowing was assessed using the bronchial‐to‐aorta (Ao) ratio, measured by 3 radiologists blinded to the clinical findings. After identifying bronchi that were significantly narrowed in dogs with murmur compared to controls, the relationship between degree of narrowing and LA/Ao ratio (measured echocardiographically) and vertebral heart scale (VHS) measured radiographically was studied in dogs with murmur using mixed‐effects regression. Result: Significant narrowing was identified for all left‐sided bronchi and the right principal, middle, and caudal bronchi in the coughing dogs, compared with controls. Increasing LA size and VHS were significantly inversely associated with diameter for all left‐sided and right‐sided bronchi indicated above. Conclusion and Clinical Importance: Results indicate an association between LA enlargement and cardiomegaly and bronchial narrowing and support heart size‐associated exacerbation of cough in dogs with murmurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looking more closely at the results, the gradient was highest for left caudal bronchus (LB2) and left principal bronchus (LPB), which are the bronchi located just dorsal to the left atrium (Figure 1). It therefore seems logical that these bronchi would be the most narrowed bronchi associated with an enlarged left atrium. [Extracted from the article]

Noncardiogenic pulmonary edema (NCPE) in hunting dogs is an uncommon and poorly described condition for which no preventive treatment is available. Two dogs were presented for recurrent respiratory distress strictly associated with hunting activities. Diagnosis was based on bilateral, symmetrical, interstitial‐to‐alveolar pattern in the caudodorsal lung fields on thoracic radiographs, exclusion of other causes, and spontaneous clinical and radiographic improvement. Considering that the pathogenesis of exercise‐induced NCPE likely involves α‐ and β‐adrenergic overstimulation, treatment with sympathetic blockers was used in both dogs. The first dog no longer showed respiratory signs during hunting activities. However, treatment failed to prevent respiratory distress in the other dog. Based on the large number of red blood cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of the second dog, exercise‐induced pulmonary hemorrhage was suspected, as described in racing horses. The loop diuretic furosemide successfully prevented further hunting‐associated respiratory distress episodes in this dog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of a transdermal lidocaine patch (TLP) on indicators of postoperative pain in healthy dogs following ovariohysterectomy. DESIGN Randomized, blinded controlled trial. ANIMALS 40 healthy shelter-owned female dogs admitted to a student surgery program for ovariohysterectomy. PROCEDURES Dogs were randomly assigned to receive after ovariohysterectomy a 5-cm-wide strip of TLP applied topically on both sides of the incision, for the full length of the incision and a wound dressing (n = 19) or a placebo patch (nonmedicated wound dressing; 21). All dogs underwent midline ovariohysterectomy. Immediately afterward, dogs received 2 IM morphine injections, carprofen (SC, q 12 h for 2 days), and the assigned patch (left in place for 18 hours). Postoperative comfort was evaluated by use of the short form of the Glasgow Composite Measures Pain Scale and serum cortisol concentrations measured prior to premedication and I, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 18 hours after surgery. RESULTS No significant difference in pain scores or serum cortisol concentrations was identified between dogs that received the TLP and dogs that received a placebo patch after ovariohysterectomy. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE The TLP provided no additional analgesic benefit to dogs treated concurrently with recommended doses of morphine and carprofen following ovariohysterectomy. Additional studies are needed to investigate whether similar results might be achieved in dogs treated concurrently with other analgesics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report describes a spinal cord epidural and synovial lipomatosis in a 3‐year‐old neutered male Eurasian dog. This dog presented for ambulatory paraparesis and was previously treated with immunosuppressive dosages of prednisolone for 2 years. Computed tomography (CT) myelography and magnetic resonnance imaging (MRI) images identified dorsal compression of the thoraco‐lumbar spinal cord by hypertrophic epidural fat. Histological examination identified extensive well‐differentiated mature adipose tissue in the subepithelial area of the tarsal synovium. Prednisolone is a reported predisposing factor in humans with lipomatosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Historically, positive bacterial cultures from the lower respiratory tract (LRT) have been considered clinically relevant when quantitative bacterial cultures of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were >1700 colony forming units (cfu)/mL. However, this threshold might not accurately predict a requirement for antibiotics. Objectives: To study whether quantitative BALF bacterial culture results were predictive of antibiotic requirement in dogs with LRT signs. Animals: Thirty‐three client‐owned dogs. Methods: Cross‐sectional study. Dogs with positive quantitative bacterial culture of BALF were included. Dogs were divided into 2 groups, depending on whether they had a LRT infection requiring antibiotics (LRTI‐RA) or LRT disease not requiring antibiotics (LRTD‐NRA), based on thoracic imaging features, presence of intracellular bacteria on BALF cytology, and response to treatment. Predictive effect of cfu/mL and BALF total nucleated cell count (TNCC) on antibiotic requirement, adjusting for ongoing or prior antibiotic therapy and age, were studied using logistic regression. Results: Twenty‐two and 11 dogs were included in the LRTI‐RA and LRTD‐NRA groups, respectively. The cfu/mL was not significantly predictive of antibiotic requirement, independent of ongoing or prior antibiotic treatment and age (LRTI‐RA: median, 10 000 cfu/mL; range, 10‐3 × 108; LRTD‐NRA: median, 10 000 cfu/mL; range, 250‐1.3 × 109; P =.27). The TNCC was not significantly predictive of antibiotic requirement when only dogs with bronchial disease were considered (LRTI‐RA: median, 470 cells/μL; range, 240‐2260; LRTD‐NRA: median, 455 cells/μL; range, 80‐4990; P =.57). Conclusion and Clinical Importance: The cfu/mL is an inappropriate measure for determining whether antibiotics are of benefit in dogs with LRT signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relationships among gastric lymphoid follicular hyperplasia (GLFH), Helicobacter‐like organisms (HLOs), and clinical signs have not been established in dogs. Objectives: To evaluate the epidemiologic, clinical, endoscopic, and histopathologic findings associated with GLFH in dogs, and determine the association of GLFH with HLOs and the French Bulldog (FB) breed. Animals: Two hundred eighty‐eight dogs that underwent gastroscopy between 2013 and 2016. Methods: Retrospective, cross‐sectional study. Gastric biopsy samples were reviewed and scored for inflammation and HLOs. Dogs were divided into 3 groups: group 1 (63 FBs), group 2 (45 non‐FB brachycephalic dogs), and group 3 (180 nonbrachycephalic dogs). Variables were evaluated for their association with GLFH. Results: Univariate analysis determined that intact males, young age, vomiting, gastroscopic findings (discoloration, hemorrhage, and ulcers), and histopathologic findings (gastric lamina propria lymphocytic infiltration and HLO score) were associated with GLFH (P ≤.03). In the multivariate analysis, GLFH was associated with the HLO score (odds ratio [OR] > 5 for HLO scores 1‐2 and >15 for HLO score of 3; P <.001), with vomiting (OR > 4; P =.01) but not with FB breed (P =.76) and age (P =.1). The HLO score was associated with younger age (P <.001). Conclusion and Clinical Importance: The HLO score was associated with a high GLFH score. Vomiting was associated with GLFH. Helicobacter‐like organisms are highly prevalent in young dogs and GLFH is indirectly associated with this factor. Clinical relevance of the identification of GLFH and HLO remains to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]