The Prevalence of Malignant Neoplasia in Feline Renal-Transplant Recipients

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of malignant neoplasia in a group of feline renal-transplant recipients (FRTR). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective clinical study. ANIMALS: Ninety-five consecutive client-owned FRTR treated at the University of California, Davis, between 1987 and 1997. METHODS: Medical records of the 95 cats were examined. The time to occurrence and type of malignant neoplasia, if present, was determined. RESULTS: Nine of 95 cats (9.5%) developed apparently de novo malignant neoplasia after receiving renal allografts. The predominant type of neoplasm was lymphoma. The median time to diagnosis of neoplasia in these 9 patients was 9.0 months after transplantation, whereas the median survival time was 14.0 months after transplantation. This compares with a median survival time of 22 months after transplantation for cats that died for reasons other than development of malignant neoplasia. CONCLUSIONS: Although these transplant recipients were not compared with a control population, it would appear that, as in humans, malignant neoplasia is encountered with greater-than-expected frequency after renal transplantation and immunosuppression in cats. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The apparent propensity to develop malignant neoplasia after renal transplantation and immunosuppression in cats is a fatal complication of which owners and clinicians should be aware.     

Measurement of cardiac output by transesophageal Doppler ultrasonography in anesthetized dogs: comparison with thermodilution

Thermodilution (TD) is the standard method for cardiac output (CO) monitoring in human medicine. Although called the ‘gold standard’, TD is related to numerous complications and data misinterpretations. Recently, a noninvasive, continuous, ultrasound‐based technique for CO measurement has been developed (Hemosonic 100, Arrow Intl). This study compared transesophageal Doppler ultrasonography (TED) for measuring CO with TD in anesthetized dogs. In this study, ten dogs were used to simultaneously measure CO by TED and TD. All dogs were pre‐medicated with acepromazine at 0.1 mg kg^?1 IM, induced with thiopental at 10 mg kg^?1 IV, and maintained on isoflurane at end‐tidal concentrations of 1.3%. Baseline and four different levels of CO were used for comparison. Low CO levels were induced by caudal vena cava occlusion. High CO levels were induced by the constant IV infusion of dopamine, dobutamine, or norepinephrine. Each level of CO allowed one comparison between TED and TD. Forty‐nine paired comparisons of CO were determined ranging from 0.73 to 10.9 L minute^?1. Simple linear regression was used to determine the correlation between the two techniques. Correlation coefficient (r²) was 0.53. Bland and Altman statistical method was used for assessing agreement between the two methods. The difference between the TD and TED when all data were included was 0.82 (bias) ± 1.63 L minute^?1 (mean ± SD). At low CO levels (baseline and caudal vena cava occlusion), the correlation coefficient was 0.77, bias was 0.35 ± 0.64 L minute^?1. At high CO levels (dopamine, dobutamine, or norepinephrine), the correlation coefficient was 0.39. It was concluded that TED was not a reliable monitoring method in determining CO when positive inotropes were used. TED might have importance in situations of low CO values; however, further investigation is warranted.     

Echocardiographic values in the Greyhound

SUMMARY Serial B- and M-mode echocardiography was performed on Greyhounds to determine normal cardiac values for this breed. These were generally of greater magnitude than predicted from previous echocardiographic research on other breeds and crossbreeds. In particular, left ventricular posterior wall thickness, measured at both systole and diastole, was consistently greater.