CURRENT PROSPECTS FOR RENAL TRANSPLANTATION IN VETERINARY PRACTICE

In dogs, the surgical techniques and other technical considerations for the transplantation of most tissues and organs in the body are well established. The last remaining obstacle to uniformly safe and successful organ transplantation is the immune response to foreign tissue antigen and our present inability to completely suppress this response in a specific and safe manner. Immunosuppressive techniques currently available are largely non-specific and unfortunately cause many potentially fatal side effects. As a result graft recipients must be constantly monitored so that enough immunosuppressive treatment is given to prevent rejection but not so much that the recipient develops life threatening complications. The enormous cost and the services necessary to provide this attention in view of the relatively poor survival rates of tissue and organ grafts in dogs will continue to prevent organ transplantation becoming a reality in veterinary practice. Hopefully future advances in tissue-typing and the induction of specific immunological adaption in dogs by ensuring consistently safe and successful transplantation will ead to minimal postoperative attention.     

Immediate and long-term effects of halothane anesthesia on equine platelet function

The acute and long-term quantitative and qualitative effects of halothane anesthesia on equine platelet performance were studied in fourteen horses. Horses were anesthetized with only halothane in O2 for about 8.0 MAC hours. Platelet numbers declined during the anesthetic period but returned to normal within 24 h. Platelet aggregation was significantly diminished during the anesthetic period and for up to 4 days after anesthesia. A period of hyperaggregability occurred at the 7th day.     

The place of the post-mortem room in the training of the small animal veterinarian

The post-mortem room can be an important focal point in the training of the small animal veterinarian. Repetitive necropsy demonstrations are necessary to provide a firm foundation of gross pathology for the clinician. More importantly, collaborative post-mortem demonstration/discussions involving clinicians, pathologist and laboratory diagnosticians are necessary to develop understanding of clinico-pathological correlation and this has an important function in developing clinical diagnostic skills and confidence.     

Biomechanical and Histological Evaluation of a Laparoscopic Stapled Gastropexy Technique in Dogs

The biomechanical holding strength and histological characteristics of a laparoscopic stapled gastropexy (LG) adhesion were compared with that of an incisional gastropexy (IG) adhesion. An LG was performed in 14 dogs and an IG was performed in six dogs. During the LG procedure, the abdomen was insufflated with carbon dioxide and three cannulae were placed in the caudal aspect of the right side of the abdomen. A 35 mm laparoscopic stapler was used to staple the gastric antrum to the adjacent right lateral abdominal wall. The IG procedure was performed through a ventral midline celiotomy. A 35 mm IG was made by apposing the gastric antrum to the adjacent right lateral abdominal wall with two continuous rows of suture. Half of each group of dogs was euthanatized at 7 and 30 days after surgery. The mean tensile load to failure at 7 days was 44.86 ± 18.54 N for the LG group and 85.33 ± 23.59 N for the IG group ( P <.05). At 30 days the values were 72.93 ± 18.01 N for the LG group and 71.17 ± 12.11 N for the IG group ( P =.41). The gastropexy adhesions in the 7-day postoperative group contained variable amounts of fibrin, hemorrhage, mononuclear cell inflammation, loose fibrovascular tissue, and mature collagenous connective tissue. Adhesions in the 7-day postoperative group were divided subjectively into three histological subgroups based on the relative amounts of mature connective tissue within the adhesion. The LG and IG adhesions were randomly distributed among these subgroups ( P = 1.0). Adhesions in the 30-day postoperative group contained well-organized fibrous connective tissue. No difference in the amount of connective tissue could be detected histologically in the LG or IG adhesions. Complications with the LG procedure included stomach perforation (2 cases), splenic puncture (2 cases), and subcutaneous emphysema (4 cases).