PULMONARY MINERALIZATION IN FOUR DOGS WITH CUSHING'S SYNDROME

The clinical and imaging features of four dogs with Cushing's syndrome and pulmonary mineralization are reviewed. Three dogs presented with a primary complaint of respiratory distress/dyspnea. Three dogs had pituitary dependent Cushing's syndrome, while the remaining one dog had iatrogenic Cushing's syndrome. Each dog had clinical features typical for Cushing's syndrome. Two of the dogs were euthanized due to progressive hypoxemia. In each dog, the serum calcium, phosphorous, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine were normal.
A generalized increase in unstructured interstitial pulmonary opacity with diffuse mineralization was noted on thoracic radiographs of all dogs. In one dog, an ill-defined nodular interstitial pattern of mineralization was present. Delayed bone phase scintigraphy using ^99mTechnetium methylene diphosphonate documented generalized pulmonary uptake in two dogs. ^99mTechnetium labeled microaggregated albumin lung perfusion scans were normal in these two dogs. ^99mTc-MDP scintigraphy can provide useful information in diagnosing pulmonary mineralization in Cushingoid dogs.     

Laparoscopic nephron-sparing surgery for the treatment of canine dioctophymosis

This paper reports on two cases of laparoscopic nephrotomy employed in the treatment of canine dioctophymosis, which is considered a unusual procedure and a new treatment proposal heretofore not performed in veterinary medicine. Two patients were treated, one with a history of hematuria and the other with incidental finding of the parasite in the abdominal cavity during elective ovariohysterectomy. Both dogs were subjected to abdominal ultrasound, which produced images indicating the presence of the parasite in the right side kidney, but with partial parenchymal preservation. The patients were therefore subjected to laparoscopic nephrotomy. The surgical procedure was effective in treating dioctophymosis and enabled minimum tissue invasion during surgery, in addition to preservation of the kidney.     

Oral malignant melanoma – the effect of coarse fractionation radiotherapy alone or with adjuvant carboplatin therapy

A retrospective study was undertaken of dogs presented to the Animal Health Trust for treatment of oral malignant melanoma, without radiographic evidence of pulmonary metastases. Group 1 (n = 13) received radiotherapy of the primary and any lymph node metastases (4 weekly fractions of 9 Gy); and group 2 (n = 15) were treated the same but additionally received between two and six doses carboplatin at 300 mg m^?2 every 3 weeks. Median survival times for the two groups were 307 and 286 days, respectively (P > 0.05). In addition, carboplatin therapy did not significantly reduce the proportion of dogs dying due to metastases (three from group 1 and four from group 2). We found no evidence of a beneficial effect of carboplatin therapy over radiotherapy alone.     

Application of a recombinant protein for the serological diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis

This work reports the results obtained by a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test developed for the serological diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis.The new ELISA is based on a recombinant protein obtained by joining different antigens of Leishmania infantum.Test performances have been evaluated through the screening 227 sera of dogs, infected and uninfected by L. infantum. The new ELISA test has been compared to the indirect immunofluorescent-antibody test (IFAT) as a reference assay of canine leishmaniasis, and to a commercial ELISA.Excluding from the total number of IFAT positive sera the 27 sera with IFAT titre 1:40 (considered doubtful), the recombinant ELISA showed 97.0% specificity, 93.9% sensitivity and 95.5% agreement with IFAT. The commercial ELISA showed 78.2% specificity, 94.9% sensitivity and 86.5% agreement with IFAT.The results demonstrate a higher performance of the new recombinant ELISA test for the detection of negative samples, with a greater agreement with the reference test (IFAT).     

犬血丝虫病诊疗病例

犬血丝虫病是由犬血丝虫寄生于犬类动物右心室或肺动脉引起的犬类动物的一种重要的寄生虫病,以循环障碍、呼吸困难、贫血为主要特征。犬血丝虫又叫犬心丝虫或犬恶丝虫,犬为其终末宿主,蚊、蚤等吸血昆虫是中间宿主。当寄生的虫体影响心脏器质功能（比如三尖瓣或肺动脉瓣功能不全）时,患犬会出现呼吸困难、胸腹水、下体浮肿等较为严重的临床症状,甚至发生急性死亡。诊断本病以外周血中查到犬血丝虫的幼虫微丝蚴为主。治疗本病则以驱虫为主,补血、输液等对症治疗作为辅助措施。     

犬瘟热病毒YD株的分离鉴定及其H基因序列分析

从疑似犬瘟热(CD)病犬的脏器中分离到1株病毒,经间接免疫荧光试验、RT-PCR鉴定、红细胞凝集试验和对不同动物致病性试验,证实该病毒为犬瘟热病毒(CDV)强毒株,命名为CDV YD株.对H基因序列的测定和分析表明,YD株H基因与国内强毒株更接近,核苷酸同源性为98.4％～99.7％,氨基酸同源性为97.8％～99.7...