A retrospective study of canine and feline cutaneous vasculitis

Twenty-one cases of cutaneous vasculitis in small animals (dogs and cats) were reviewed, and cases were divided by clinical signs into five groups. An attempt was made to correlate clinical types of vasculitis with histological inflammatory patterns, response to therapeutic drugs and prognosis. Greater than 50% of the cases were idiopathic, whereas five were induced by rabies vaccine, two were associated with hypersensitivity to beef, one was associated with lymphosarcoma and two were associated with the administration of oral drugs (ivermectin and itraconazole). Only the cases of rabies vaccine-induced vasculitis in dogs had a consistent histological inflammatory pattern (mononuclear/nonleukocytoclastic) and were responsive to combination therapy with prednisone and pentoxifylline, or to prednisone alone. Most cases with neutrophilic or neutrophilic/eosinophilic inflammatory patterns histologically did not respond to pentoxifylline, but responded to sulfone/sulfonamide drugs, prednisone, or a combination of the two.     

Efficacy of itraconazole as a combined continuous/pulse therapy in feline dermatophytosis: preliminary results in nine cases

This study evaluated the efficacy of itraconazole as a combined continuous/pulse therapy for feline dermatophytosis. Nine cats with dermatophytosis caused by Microsporum canis were treated with itraconazole at 10 mg kg(-1) orally once daily for 28 days and then on an alternate week regimen (1 week off, 1 week on) at the same dosage. Cats were re-evaluated by physical examination and fungal culture at days 28, 42, 56 and 70 if necessary. Treatment was stopped when two consecutive negative fungal cultures were obtained. Eight cats were cured after 56 days, with two negative cultures obtained at days 28 and 42. In one case, a positive culture was obtained at day 28, but negative cultures were achieved at days 42 and 56. This protocol appears to be effective in the treatment of feline dermatophytosis, although these preliminary results should be confirmed by a controlled study.     

RADIOGRAPHIC DIAGNOSIS OF LUNG LOBE TORSION

Clinical data, thoracic radiographs, ultrasonographic exams, and histopathologic reports in 13 dogs and two cats with confirmed lung lobe torsion were reviewed. Age of dogs ranged from 4 months to 11.5 years, (mean of 6.4 years) and several breeds of large and small dogs were represented. Right middle lobe torsion was predominant in large dogs (five of eight large breed dogs) and left cranial lobe torsion was more commonly seen in small dogs (three of five small-breed dogs). Two domestic short-hair cats, 10 and 14 years of age, had right cranial and right middle lobe torsion, respectively. Underlying thoracic disease was found in only five of 15 patients. On thoracic radiographs, increased lobar opacity and pleural effusion were found in all patients (100%). Small dispersed air bubbles were found within the affected lobe of 13 patients (87%). This pattern, which was the result of vesicular emphysema, was variably extensive, and became more evident on follow-up radiographs in five of six dogs. The lobar bronchi could be seen in only eight of 15 patients (54%), and appeared irregular, focally narrowed or blunted in six of the eight patients, and displaced in five of the eight. Other common radiographic findings included mediastinal shift (nine), curved and dorsally displaced trachea (seven), and axial rotation of the carina (seven). Ultrasonography was used in seven patients and considered generally useful, although variable signs were observed.     

A COMPARISON OF THE ROSTROCAUDAL OPEN MOUTH AND ROSTRO 10° VENTRO-CAUDODORSAL OBLIQUE RADIOGRAPHIC VIEWS FOR IMAGING FLUID IN THE FELINE TYMPANIC BULLA

Fluid within the tympanic bulla is an indication of middle ear disease. Radiography has a relatively low accuracy for the detection of soft tissue opacification in the tympanic bulla, and the most useful radiographic projection, the rostrocaudal open mouth (RCd (open mouth)), is technically difficult to perform in dogs and cats. An alternative projection for the feline tympanic bulla, the rostro 10 degrees ventro-caudodorsal oblique (R10 degrees V-CdDO), was compared to the RCd (open mouth) in 41 feline cadaver heads with the tympanic bullae randomly filled with KY jelly. Computed tomography was used as the gold standard. Each tympanic bulla was recorded as being positive or negative for soft tissue opacification. Although there was no significant difference between the accuracy of the two views, the R10 degrees V-CdDO was subjectively more accurate and easier to perform, and in a live patient may be performed without the need for general anesthesia. The R10 degrees V-CdDO projection is a good alternative to the RCd (open mouth) projection for detecting otitis media in the cat.     

ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC AND DOPPLER DIAGNOSIS: FIRST CASE OF ATRIAL SEPTAL ANEURYSM IN A CAT

A 6-year-old female cat developed pleural and abdominal effusion. Cardiac ultrasound and 2D color tissue Doppler imaging revealed restrictive cardiomyopathy with severe biatrial dilatation and hypertension. This cardiomyopathy was associated with atrial septal aneurysm and a patent foramen ovale. The atrial septal aneurysm involved the entire atrial septum. Necropsy and histological examination confirmed all these findings. ASA is a rare malformation and, as in this cat, it generally occurs concomitantly with congenital or acquired heart disease and may be explained by greater pressure in one atrium, leading to controlateral protrusion of the atrial septum.     

COMPARISON OF FLUID-ATTENUATED INVERSION RECOVERY AND T2-WEIGHTED MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGES IN DOGS AND CATS WITH SUSPECTED BRAIN DISEASE

To compare fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in small animal patients with suspected brain disease, paired sets of FLAIR and T2-weighted MR images of 116 dogs and cats were reviewed separately without any patient information. Images were rated as normal or abnormal using a five-point scale, and the distribution, signal intensity, and anatomic location of abnormalities were recorded. In 60 animals, both FLAIR and T2-weighted images were normal. In 50 animals, the same abnormalities were identified in both FLAIR and T2-weighted images. Overall, very good agreement was found between FLAIR and T2-weighted MR images (kappa = 0.88). FLAIR images had abnormalities that were not recognized in the corresponding T2-weighted images in six of 116 examinations (5%). In four of these, the abnormalities in FLAIR images were thought to represent pathology, including granulomatous meningoencephalitis in one dog, postictal edema in one dog, and undiagnosed lesions in two dogs. In the remaining two examinations, the abnormalities in FLAIR images were probably artifacts. No examples were found of intracranial abnormalities in T2-weighted images that were not visible in FLAIR images. In this study, acquiring FLAIR images in addition to T2-weighted images resulted in detection of otherwise occult abnormalities in relatively few patients.     

UTILITY OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING FOR DISTINGUISHING NEOPLASTIC FROM NON-NEOPLASTIC BRAIN LESIONS IN DOGS AND CATS

The aim of this study was to identify magnetic resonance (MR) signs that aid differentiation of neoplastic vs. non-neoplastic brain diseases in dogs and cats. MR images of 36 dogs and 13 cats with histologic diagnosis of intracranial disease were reviewed retrospectively. Diagnoses included 30 primary and three metastatic brain tumors, 11 infectious/inflammatory lesions, three vascular, one degenerative disease, and one developmental malformation. Upon univariate analysis of 21 MR signs, there were seven that had a significant association with neoplasia: single lesion (P = 0.004), shape (P = 0.015), mass effect (P = 0.002), dural contact (P = 0.04), dural tail (P = 0.005), lesions affecting adjacent bone (P = 0.008), and contrast enhancement (P = 0.025). Increasing age was also found to be associated with neoplasia (P = 0.0001). MR signs of non-neoplastic brain diseases in dogs and cats were more variable than those of brain neoplasia.     

Detection of papillomavirus-DNA in mesenchymal tumour cells and not in the hyperplastic epithelium of feline sarcoids

Abstract We examined 12 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded feline skin tumours which had the histopathological features of fibropapillomas for the presence of papillomavirus (PV) DNA using touchdown polymerase chain recation (PCR), DNA sequencing and nonradioactive in situ hybridization. Nine of the tumours contained a 102-bp PCR product demonstrated using consensus PV primers that amplify a portion of the L1 gene. The nucleotide sequences are closely related, but not identical to that of ovine PV type 2, rabbit oral PV and reindeer PV. The deduced amino acid sequences had strong homologies with the major capsid protein L1 of deer PV, bovine papillomavirus (BPV) 1 and BPV 2, and European elk PV. Although PV antigens were not detected in any of the tumours by immunohistochemistry, PV DNA was demonstrated in individual mesenchymal cells or cell nests of 4/12 tumours by in situ hybridization. A nonproductive infection of mesenchymal fibroblast-like tumour cells with a papillomavirus would explain the lack of PV antigen expression and the absence of PV DNA in the hyperplastic epithelium. Because these tumours and their pathogenesis are similar to equine sarcoids, we suggest that they should be reclassified as 'feline sarcoids' instead of fibropapillomas.     

Expression of RANTES mRNA in skin lesions of feline eosinophilic plaque

Abstract One of the mechanisms of eosinophil infiltration is its induction by chemoattractants such as regulated upon activation, normal T-expressed and secreted (RANTES) which is a cysteine–cysteine chemokine that mediates chemotaxis and activation of eosinophils in humans and mice. Skin lesions of feline eosinophilic plaque are characterized by a predominant infiltration of eosinophils. The mechanism(s) of eosinophilic infiltration in the skin and/or mucosa of cats is unknown. It is possible that RANTES is involved. To investigate the presence of RANTES in the skin of cats with eosinophilic plaques and nonaffected skin, we cloned and sequenced the full-length feline RANTES cDNA gene, in order to determine whether it is present in the skin of cats with eosinophilic plaques and/or if it is present in normal adjacent skin. We were able to document the the expression of RANTES mRNAs in skin with feline eosinophilic plaque as well as in normal cat skin. The full-length cDNA sequence of the RANTES gene (742 bp) contained a single open reading frame of 276 bp encoding a protein of 92 amino acids. The amino acid sequence of feline RANTES shared 67 and 74% sequence identity with that of bovine and mouse RANTES genes, respectively. RT–PCR analysis on RANTES mRNA in the skin of cats with eosinophilic plaque revealed that its expression was higher in the eosinophilic plaque skin lesions than in the normal skin. The result suggested that RANTES might play a role to induce eosinophil infiltration in feline eosinophilic plaque lesions.