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Being able to appropriately perform fine needle aspiration (FNA) collecting techniques and sample preparation is essential in obtaining a diagnostic sample, which is a critical skill for veterinary practitioners. Collection and preparation of cytologic samples are skills gained through practice. Experience leads to refinement of technique and improved diagnostic quality. Using live patients for mass skills training is not feasible; therefore, an aspiration simulation model and laboratory session was developed to reinforce physical exam skills, appropriate selection of sample collection supplies, and collection technique. Materials for the models include Ping-Pong balls, silicone, instant vanilla pudding mix, water, and stuffed animals. The laboratory session allows veterinary students to practice lesion identification, isolation, aspiration, and successful preparation. Subsequent submission of the collected sample involves being able to expel and spread the sample on a slide and proper labeling. While the simulation experience was initially developed for a short course with 12 students, it has recently been incorporated into the required clinical pathology clinical year rotation for up to 100 fourth-year veterinary students. The model is inexpensive and efficient and allows for technique development and immediate instructor assessment and feedback.

BACKGROUND Macrophage-like (ML) cells are rarely observed on blood smear examinations, and the significance of these cells has been poorly described. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to retrospectively describe selected hematologic and clinical characteristics of dogs with ML cells in peripheral blood. MATERIALS AND METHODS Complete blood count (CBC) reports with blood smear evaluations from the clinical pathology laboratory records at North Carolina University College of Veterinary Medicine were retrospectively reviewed. Data were collected over a 10-year-period. Dogs were defined as having circulating ML cells if three or more ML cells were present on a single blood smear. Hematologic and clinical data of dogs with circulating ML cells were compared with age-matched hospital-derived control dogs. RESULTS Of 61,631 CBC records, 87 reports (0.14%) described the presence of ML cells. Thirty-nine dogs met the inclusion criteria. The hemogram of dogs with circulating ML cells was characterized by a pronounced inflammatory and stress leukogram, anemia, and thrombocytopenia. Of the 39 dogs, 19 (49%) had systemic or severe localized inflammatory/necrotic diseases. Eighteen (46%) dogs were diagnosed with neoplasia of histiocytic (5) and non-histiocytic origins (13). Dogs with circulating ML cells had a shorter median survival time (34 days) than the control dogs (595 days, P

Background Clinicians face several dilemmas regarding tracheal washes (TWs) for the diagnosis of respiratory disease, including method and prediction of bacterial growth from cytology results. Objective To compare cytology and culture of endotracheal and transtracheal washes and identify factors associated with discordancy and bacterial growth. Animals Two hundred forty‐five dogs with respiratory disease. Methods Retrospective study. Tracheal wash submissions were included if cellularity was sufficient for cytologic interpretation and aerobic cultures were performed. Collection technique, cytology, bacterial growth, and antibiotic history were analyzed. Results Fewer transtracheal specimens (9/144, 6.3%) were excluded for hypocellularity than endotracheal (28/174, 16.1%); otherwise, results were similar and were combined. Of 281 specimens with cellularity sufficient for interpretation, 97 (34.5%) had bacteria on cytology and 191 (68.0%) had bacterial growth. Cytology positive/culture negative discordancy was uncommon (8/97, 8%). Cytology negative/culture positive discordancy was frequent (102/184, 55.4%), but occurred less often (28/184, 14.2%) when only 1+ growth or greater was considered positive. Oropharyngeal contamination was associated with bacterial growth, but not discordancy. No association was found between antibiotic administration and bacterial growth. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Endotracheal wash fluid, in particular, should be screened for gross mucus or turbidity to maximize the likelihood of an adequate specimen. Otherwise, endotracheal and transtracheal specimens were similar. Presence of bacteria on cytology was a good predictor of any growth, while their absence was a good predictor of the absence of growth of 1+ or more. Recent antibiotic usage should not discourage TW culture if there is compelling reason to avoid delay.

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A healthy adult, intact female keeled box turtle (Cuora mouhotii) was found to have a marked heterophilic leukocytosis using normal hematologic parameters established for the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina), a related chelonian species. This animal was monitored with serial complete blood counts (CBCs) over the next 15 years despite remaining asymptomatic for an infectious condition. Retrospective CBC data were compiled from 38 presumably healthy keeled box turtles to establish hematologic values for comparison in this species. Using this species-specific data, over the 15-year period, the female keeled box turtle had two times where the white blood cell (WBC) count was greater than 2 standard deviations (SD) above the mean, six times where the WBC count was greater than 1 SD above the mean, six times where the PCV was greater than 2 SD above the mean, and eight times where the PCV was greater than 1 SD above the mean. Infection and inflammation are the most common causes of leukocytosis in reptiles; however, given the clinical presentation of this patient, it was postulated that these clinicopathologic changes could be secondary to a stress response. Establishing reference intervals and understanding how stress impacts CBC parameters are important for evaluating the health status of keeled box turtles kept in captivity and for assessing the effects of environmental changes on the health status of wild populations of this endangered chelonian species.

Background Salmonellosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal calves, often occurring before preventative vaccines can be administered. Hypothesis/Objective To evaluate the protective effect on calves of colostrum from cows vaccinated with a commercially available Salmonella Newport bacterin against a Salmonella Typhimurium challenge. Animals Twenty Holstein bull calves from a university dairy farm. Methods Nonrandomized placebo‐controlled trial in which colostrum was harvested from 30 cows that received 2 doses of either Salmonella bacterin or saline before calving. Colostrum collected from each group was pooled and fed to 2 groups of 10 calves at birth. At approximately 2 weeks of age, calves were challenged with Salmonella Typhimurium. Clinical, hematologic, microbiological, and postmortem findings were compared between the 2 groups. Results No differences in mortality, clinical findings, hematology results, blood and fecal cultures, or necropsy findings between the 2 groups were observed. Vaccinated cows had higher colostral titers, and calves fed this colostrum had higher serum titers (mean difference, 0.429; mean [SE], 0.852 [0.02] for vaccinated versus 0.423 [0.02] for control calves). Conclusions and Clinical Importance Transfer of colostral immunoglobulins from Salmonella enterica serotype Newport bacterin to neonatal calves was not sufficient to decrease mortality, clinical signs, sepsis, intestinal damage, or fecal shedding when exposed to a highly pathogenic Salmonella isolate. A large‐scale randomized controlled clinical trial is needed to evaluate the efficacy of this bacterin when administered in the dry period for prevention of salmonellosis in neonatal calves.

There is a concern over long-term retention of knowledge in professional programs. The goal of this study was to evaluate the retention of veterinary clinical pathology knowledge between the fourth-semester and fourth-year clinical pathology courses. We hypothesize that students will forget a significant amount of content area knowledge between the fourth semester and fourth year in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program. We further hypothesize that a review of material during the fourth-year clinical pathology rotation will help students rebuild existing knowledge and increase performance on specific test questions, between T2 (rotation pre-test) and T3 (rotation post-test). Initial mastery of course material was assessed via a 94-item multiple-choice final exam (T1) given in the semester 4 clinical pathology course. Retention of course material from semester 4 to year 4 was assessed via a 55-item multiple-choice pre-test, administered at the start of the clinical pathology rotation in year 4 while learning/mastery during the clinical rotation was assessed via a 55-item multiple-choice post-test, administered at the end of each clinical pathology rotation. In this study, evidence of knowledge retention between semester 4 and year 4 was 55.5%. There is a small increase in the measure of knowledge gain from the beginning to the end of the rotation. As an added benefit, we were able to use identified trends for retention of knowledge within specific subject areas as a mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of our course and reallocate additional instructional time to topics with poorer retention.

BACKGROUND Flow cytometry (FC) is used increasingly in veterinary medicine for further characterization of hematolymphoid cells. Guidelines for optimizing assay performance and interpretation of results are limited, and concordance of results across laboratories is unknown. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to determine inter-investigator agreement on the interpretation of FC results from split samples analyzed in different laboratories using various protocols, cytometers, and software; and on the interpretation of archived FC standard (FCS) data files contributed by the different investigators. METHODS This was a multicenter observational cross-sectional study. Anticoagulated blood or lymph node aspirate samples from nine client-owned dogs were aliquoted and shipped to participating laboratories. Samples were analyzed with individual laboratory-developed protocols. In addition, FCS files from a set of separate samples from 11 client-owned dogs were analyzed by participating investigators. A person not associated with the study tabulated the results and interpretations. Agreement of interpretations was assessed with Fleiss' kappa statistic. RESULTS Prolonged transit times affected sample quality for some laboratories. Overall agreement among investigators regarding the FC sample interpretation was strong (κ = 0.86 ± 0.19, P

Cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) are a category of self proteins aberrantly expressed in diverse malignancies, mostly solid tumours, due to epigenetic de-repression. Normally expressed only in fetal or gametogenic tissues, CTAs are tantalizing immunotherapy targets, since autoimmunity risks appear minimal. Few prevalent CTAs have been identified in human hematologic cancers, and just two in their veterinary counterparts. We sought to discover new CTAs in canine hematologic cancers such as histiocytic sarcoma (HS) and lymphoma to foster immunotherapy development. To accomplish this, the ligandome binding the dog leukocyte antigen (DLA)-88*508:01 class I allele overexpressed in an HS line was searched by mass spectrometry to identify possible CTA-derived peptides, which could serve as CD8+ T-cell epitopes. Twenty-two peptides mapped to 5 human CTAs and 12 additional proteins with CTA characteristics. Expression of five promising candidates was then evaluated in tumour and normal tissue by quantitative and end-point RT-PCR. The ortholog of an established CTA, IGF2BP3, had unexpectedly high expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Four other testis-enhanced proteins were also assessed. AKR1E2, SPECC1 and TPX2 were expressed variably in HS and T-cell lymphoma biopsies, but also at high levels in critical tissues, including kidney, brain and marrow, diminishing their utility. A more tissue-restricted candidate, NT5C1B, was detected in T-cell lymphomas, but also at low levels in some normal dog tissues. These results illustrate the feasibility of discovering canine CTAs by a reverse approach, proceeding from identification of MHC class I-presented peptides to a comparative RNA expression survey of tumours and normal tissues.