Prevalence of malignancy when solitary versus multiple lesions are detected during abdominal ultrasonographic examination of dogs with spontaneous hemoperitoneum: 31 cases (2003–2008)

Objective – To compare the histopathologic diagnosis in dogs with spontaneous hemoperitoneum when abdominal ultrasonographic examination detects a solitary versus multiple lesions.
Design – Retrospective cross-sectional study.
Setting – Private veterinary hospital.
Animals – Client-owned dogs presented with spontaneous hemoperitoneum between March 1, 2003 and June 1, 2008.
Interventions – Dogs were divided into 2 groups based on presence of a solitary or multiple abdominal ultrasonographic lesions. Prevalences were compared between groups for malignancy and specifically hemangiosarcoma.
Measurements and Main Results – Ten of 31 (32%) dogs had a solitary abdominal ultrasonographic lesion and 21 of 31 (68%) had more than 1 lesion. The bleeding tissue was characterized as malignant in 8 of 10 (80%) dogs with solitary lesions and 17 of 21 (81%) dogs with multiple lesions; there was no significant difference ( P =1.0) between groups. In this study no association ( P =0.26) was found between the number of abdominal ultrasonographic lesions observed and subsequent diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma.
Conclusions – Solitary abdominal ultrasonographic lesions in dogs with spontaneous hemoperitoneum do not necessarily indicate a lower prevalence of malignancy.     

Evaluation of a long‐acting injectable formulation of omeprazole in healthy dogs

BackgroundTo evaluate the efficacy of a single intramuscular adminsitration of long‐acting omeprazole (LA‐OMEP) in increasing gastric pH in dogs.HypothesisWe hypothesized that LA‐OMEP would meet in healthy dogs the clinical goals defined for human patients for treatment of gastroduodenal ulceration.AnimalsNine healthy research dogs.MethodsProspective experimental study. Dogs were given a 4 mg/kg intramuscular injection of LA‐OMEP. Intragastric pH was continuously recorded on treatment days 0 to 7. Daily mean pH and mean percentage time (MPT) intragastric pH was ≥3 or ≥4 were determined.ResultsThe mean onset of action for the LA‐OMEP was 98.11 min (SD 46.39). The mean number of days the dogs'' pH met established goals for MPT pH ≥3 was 5.5 days (range, 3‐7) and 5.25 days for MPT pH ≥4 (range, 3‐7). Long‐acting omeprazole met the human clinical goals pH ≥3 for 72 hours in 8/8 of the dogs and MPT pH ≥4 for 96 hours in 7/8 of dogs.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceThe LA‐OMEP formulation produced gastric acid suppression in healthy dogs for an average of 5 days and up to 7 days, after a single intramuscular injection. No major adverse effects were observed.