EX VIVO MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF THE DISTAL ROW OF EQUINE CARPAL BONES: ASSESSMENT OF BONE SCLEROSIS AND CARTILAGE DAMAGE

The distal row of carpal bones (C2, C3, and C4) from eight left intercarpal joints--four from Standardbred Trotters and four from Swedish Warmblood horses--were used to assess the potential of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to detect cartilage and bone lesions. The joints used in the study were classified by macroscopic and radiographic examinations as having normal, mild, moderate, or severe articular cartilage lesions and bone sclerosis. Those classifications correlated well with the appearance of the MR images. Bone sclerosis in the MR images was observed as regions of decreased signal intensity. Upon quantitative analysis of the MR images there was a significant difference (p < 0.0001) in the MR signal intensity from areas where radiographic bone sclerosis was observed compared to areas of radiographic nonsclerotic bone. In addition, the MR images were used to pilot the location of histology slices through areas of interest that were then examined microscopically; hence, the lesions found from the MR imaging examination were verified microscopically. It was concluded that cartilage lesions and cartilage loss are related to the sclerotic state of the underlying bone. The MR protocols developed in this study were applied on five intact cadaveric carpal joints, and it was concluded that MR imaging could successfully be used in the intact joint to detect minor cartilage and bone lesions not visualized by either radiography or macroscopic examination. Hence, MR imaging can be used to delineate interactions between articular cartilage and subchondral bone over time and in vivo.     

A method to measure the susceptibility of pasture soils to poaching by cattle

Abstract. A new method of measuring susceptibility to poaching is described, based on the concept that poaching is caused by a progressive loss of soil strength during repeated treading in wet weather. Susceptibility was measured by the rate of loss of strength in response to concurrent treading and irrigation at standard rates. The pressures exerted on the ground by a walking dairy cow were simulated by a purpose-built penetrometer, whilst water was applied via a network of plastic pipes fitted with syringe needles. Measurements were performed on four pasture soils having a range of clay contents and compared in relation to a mechanism proposed for the process. The results show susceptibility to be a property not wholly determined by the clay content of the soil, but suggest that it is influenced by bulk density and the strength of the sward, which will van, according to weather and pasture management.     

Effects of medetomidine premedication on propofol infusion anaesthesia in dogs

Observations of cardiovascular and respiratory parameters were made on six dogs anaesthetized on two separate occasions for 120 minutes with a propofol infusion, once without premedication and once following premedication with 10 μg kg-¹ of intramuscular medetomidine. During anaesthesia the heart rate and cardiac index tended to be lower following medetomidine premedication, while the mean arterial pressure was significantly greater (p<0.05). Although the differences were not statistically significant, the systemic vascular resistance, pulmonary vascular resistance and stroke volume index were also greater in dogs given medetomidine. The mean arterial oxygen and carbon dioxide tensions were similar under both regimens, but in 2 dogs supplementary oxygen had to be administered during anaesthesia to alleviate severe hypoxaemia on both occasions they were anaesthetized. Minute and tidal volumes of respiration tended to be greater in dogs not given medetomidine but medetomidine premedication appeared to have no effect on venous admixture. Dogs given medetomidine received intramuscular atipamezole at the end of the 120 min. propofol infusion; the mean time from induction of anaesthesia to walking without ataxia was 174. min in the unpremedicated dogs and 160 min. in the dogs given atipamezole. The mean blood propofol concentration at which the dogs walked without ataxia was higher in the unpremedicated animals (2.12 ± 0.077 μg. ml-¹ compared with 1.27 ± 0.518 μg. ml-¹ in the premedicated dogs). The oxygen delivery to the tissues was lower after medetomidine premedication (p = 0.03) and the oxygen consumption was generally lower after medetomidine premedication but the difference did not achieve statistical significance. No correlation could be demonstrated between blood propofol concentration and cardiac index, systemic or pulmonary vascular resistance indices, systolic, diastolic or mean arterial blood pressures.     

Diagnosis of right coronary artery to right atrial fistula in a dog using two-dimensional echocardiography

A five-year-old boxer dog developed cardiac murmurs, complete heart block and car-diomegaly associated with vegetative bacterial endocarditis. Using two-dimensional echocardiography, vegetative lesions of the aortic valves and extension of the vegetations into the proximal right coronary artery and adjacent atrial septum were identified. The vegetation within the atrial septum appeared as a cavitated mass which protruded into the right atrium. Fistulae within the atrial septal vegetation permitting communication between the coronary artery and right atrium were observed with colour Doppler echocardiography. The dog died despite medical treatment. Post mortem examination confirmed the echo-cardiographic findings. Vegetative endocarditis with invasion into the right coronary artery and atrial septum producing fistulae and communication with the right atrium has not been reported previously in dogs. Doppler echocardiography proved useful in demonstrating the abnormal anatomy, intraluminal fistular blood flow and its communication with the right atrium.     

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infections (Pigeon Fever) in horses in Western Colorado: An epidemiological investigation

Following reports of an increase in the number of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infections in horses in the western counties of Colorado in 1997, an epidemiological assessment of the problem was conducted using a survey of premises with affected horses. No gender, age or breed predilections were found. Most diagnoses of disease were made in the summer or fall of 1997. Abscesses were reported to occur in various locations with a mean healing time of 77 days. A majority of premises owners reported potential contact of horses with sheep or goats. The days of lost use and treatment costs per case had a mean of 13 days and $139, respectively.     

A model for the induction of Pasteurella multocida type-A pneumonia in pigs.

A model for the induction of pneumonia caused by Pasteurella multocida type-A was developed. Anesthetized pigs were dosed intratracheally with 10(10) colony forming units of P. multocida type-A suspended in a total dose of saline based on the pig's body weight (8 mL/kg). A severe bronchopneumonia was present when the treated pigs were euthanized seven days postinfection. The mean percentage of pneumonic lesions in the treated pigs, as determined by morphometric measurement, was 14.03 +/- 7.01 (X +/- SD). In contrast, in the control pigs, the mean percentage of pneumonic lesions was 0.59 +/- 0.52. For the treated pigs during the period following induction of pneumonia, weight gain and feed intake were reduced significantly (p less than 0.05) compared to the controls. It was shown that severe pneumonia could be induced without the use of other infectious agents, which could potentially confound the experimental model.     

Stereodependent bioactivation of R(+)-ethyl S-propyl methylphosphonothioate: Is the S-oxide the active metabolite?

R(+)-Ethyl S-propyl methylphosphonothioate is bioactivated both in vivo and when perfused through isolated liver to give a product which is much more active as an inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase than the parent compound. The bioactivation does not occur in hepatectomised animals. Acetylcholinesterase inhibited by the active metabolite is not reactivated by pyridine-2-aldoxime methanesulphonate (P2S), whereas enzyme inhibited by the parent compound and its S(?) enantiomer is reactivatable. Attempts to identify the active metabolite were unsuccessful and experiments to explore its stability were inconclusive. Extensive in vitro studies of the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase by the enantiomers of ethyl S-propyl methylphosphonothioate and ethyl S-diisopropylaminoethyl methylphosphonothioates and subsequent reactivation of the enzyme by P2S showed that (a) there are large differences between the rates of inhibition of the R and S enantiomers of both compounds, (b) reactivation profiles are critically dependent on reaction conditions, and (c) the reactivation profiles of the R and S enantiomers of the former compound are indistinguishable under all conditions whereas differences are observed under some conditions for the latter pair of enantiomers. The results are discussed in terms of the possibility that the S-oxide of R(+)-ethyl S-propyl methylphosphonothioate is the active metabolite and it is concluded that this is unlikely.     

Conservative management of minimally displaced radial fractures in three horses

Minimally displaced, spiral, radial fractures were diagnosed in three adult horses. Two horses had open fractures and in one horse the fracture was closed. A diagnosis was made on radiographs taken 24 h, 5, and 9 days after the fracture. There was minimal displacement of the fracture fragments despite the considerable time which had elapsed between fracture and diagnosis and an unfavourable prognosis with internal fixation, so conservative therapy was the preferred method of treatment. One horse developed a sequestrum and draining sinus, which was treated surgically under general anaesthesia 3 months after diagnosis of the fracture. Other complications were minimal and transient. Two horses were being used for pleasure riding 12 months after fracture and one horse was pasture sound at 8 months.