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Objectives: To describe the outcome and complications associated with the use of caudal superficial epigastric axial pattern flaps in dogs and cats. Material and Methods: Multicentre retrospective review and descriptive study of clinical records of dogs and cats having undergone caudal superficial epigastric axial pattern flaps between 2007 and 2020. Data retrieved included signalment, aetiology of surgical defect, tumour type, presence/absence of clean surgical margins, presence/absence of post‐operative wound infection, use of peri‐ and post‐operative antibiotics, duration of anaesthesia, duration of surgery, presence and duration of hypothermia, presence and duration of hypotension, presence/absence of post‐operative surgical drain and length of caudal superficial epigastric axial pattern flap. The incidence of complications and outcomes were documented. Results: Seventy cases met the inclusion criteria; 51 dogs and 19 cats. In dogs, 67% of cases developed complications (59% minor, 8% major) and 33% had uneventful wound healing. In cats, 53% of cases developed complications, (47% minor, 5% major) and 47% had uneventful wound healing. In dogs, the percentage of cases experiencing dehiscence, necrosis, seroma, oedema and post‐operative infection was 31%, 29%, 26%, 26% and 16% respectively. In cats, this was 26%, 16%, 11%, 0% and 5% respectively. A good overall outcome was seen in 77% of dogs and 79% of cats. A poor overall outcome was seen in 4% of dogs and 0% of cats. Clinical Significance: Caudal superficial epigastric axial pattern flaps are traditionally thought more robust than other flaps, yet complication rates remain high, despite a high overall success rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Report the use, complications and outcome of the superficial temporal axial pattern flap (STA) when used for closure of skin defects localised to the maxillofacial region in dogs and cats. Materials and Methods: Multi‐centre retrospective cohort study. Medical records of dogs and cats treated with a STA flap for closure of skin defects were reviewed. Information regarding signalment, reason for axial pattern flap use, flap size, flap healing, postoperative complications including need for surgical revision and overall outcome were collected. Results: Nineteen patients were included: nine dogs and 10 cats. Indications for the STA flap included closure of defects following excision of tumours (18/19, 94.7%) and fungal granuloma resection (1/19, 5.2%). 100% flap survival occurred in 17 of 19 flaps (89.4%). Postoperative complications occurred in eight of 19 flaps (42.1%). A major complication of full thickness partial necrosis of the flap occurred in one of 19 cases (5.2%), where the flap length exceeded recommended guidelines. Minor complications related to the flap were seen in four of 19 cases (21%). This included partial thickness flap necrosis, flap oedema and wound discharge. Complications related to the location of surgery (5/19, 26.3%) included mild ectropion, mild exposure of the eye, reduced ability to blink and subcutaneous emphysema. Clinical Significance: The STA flap is a good option for closure of a skin defect localised to the maxillofacial region. STA flaps were associated with a high percentage of survival and a low incidence of major complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal obturator and/or semitendinosus muscle flaps were used to reinforce primary appositional rectal wall repair in three dogs and one cat in this case series. All three dogs incurred rectal wall compromise during surgical excision of anal sac tumours. The cat sustained bite wounds to the perianal region resulting in abscessation and a rectal tear. Our results indicate that application of an internal obturator and/or semitendinosus muscle flap can reduce the risk of rectal wall dehiscence after primary repair, and consequently the risk of pararectal abscess or rectocutaneous fistula formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the frequency and type of healing complications arising after the use of the caudal auricular axial pattern flap to close defects on the head in dogs and cats. Material and Methods: Multi‐centre retrospective cohort study. Centres were recruited by the Association for Veterinary Soft Tissue Surgery Research Cooperative. Medical records of 11 centres were reviewed, and data from all dogs and cats treated with a caudal auricular axial pattern flap were retrieved. The following data were recorded: signalment, reason for reconstruction, flap dimensions, anatomic landmarks used, histological diagnosis, flap healing and whether revision surgery was required. Results: Twenty‐eight cases were included: 16 dogs and 12 cats. Flap length: width ratio was approximately 3:1 and flap length extended to the scapular spine in most cases. Optimal wound healing occurred in five of 16 (31%) dogs and six of 12 (50%) cats. Wound dehiscence without flap necrosis occurred in one of 16 (6%) dogs and one of 12 (8%) cats. Wound dehiscence with flap necrosis occurred in 10 of 16 (63%) dogs and five of 12 (42%) cats. Revision surgery was performed in eight of 16 (50%) dogs and three of 12 (25%) cats. Clinical Significance: The caudal auricular axial pattern flap can provide full thickness skin coverage for large defects on the head in dogs and cats. Partial flap necrosis is a common complication, and revision surgery may be required in order to achieve final wound closure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES To describe the presentation, diagnosis, cause, complications and outcome in 14 dogs that presented with a parotid sialocoele and that were treated by complete parotidectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS Multi-institutional retrospective study. RESULTS Each dog presented with a non-painful, fluctuant, soft tissue mass over the lateral aspect of the face in the region of the parotid salivary gland. Diagnosis was made by sialoradiography (3/14), CT (3/14), ultrasound (11/14) and MRI (2/14). The cause of the sialocoele could be determined in 8 of 14 patients and included: foreign body (2/14), sialolithiasis (1/14), neoplasia (3/14), salivary gland lipomatosis (1/14) and trauma (1/14). Treatment incurred one anaesthetic complication (regurgitation) and seven postoperative surgical complications [self-limiting seroma formation (2/14), haemorrhage (1/14), wound dehiscence (1/14), abscessation 7 months postoperatively (1/14) and facial nerve paralysis (2/14)]. Sialocoele did not recur in any dog during a median follow-up time of 14 months. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Parotidectomy has been considered a technically challenging procedure but can have a good success rate with long-term resolution of the clinical symptoms. Intra- and postoperative complications are reasonably common. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the correlation between the magnetic resonance imaging findings and subsequent surgical findings for a series of dogs presenting with suspected pharyngeal stick injuries to the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, between 1995 and 2004. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging findings were reviewed for patients undergoing a scan of the pharyngeal or cervical area for suspected foreign bodies during the years 1995 to 2004. Results: Case signalment, history and clinical signs were similar to those reported in previous studies. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated foreign material in six of seven cases where this was present. There was good correlation between diagnosis of a foreign body at magnetic resonance imaging and subsequent surgical identification. Clinical Significance: Compared with other imaging modalities, magnetic resonance imaging is very helpful for this type of injury, especially in chronic cases where radiographic evidence of a foreign body is unlikely. It is a valuable aid in the diagnosis of pharyngeal penetration injury and in surgical planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum and urinary assays of bone markers provide a noninvasive alternative to bone biopsy in the study of bone metabolism in humans. Many of the commercial assays that were originally developed for use in humans have been shown to cross-react in dogs, and it should therefore be possible to use these assays to study bone remodeling in dogs. The interpretation of bone marker data in humans is hampered by extensive inter- and intra-subject variability. The specific aim of this study was therefore to determine the extent of biological variability in bone markers in dogs. Serum and urine samples were collected every 4 hours over a 24-hour period (short-term study), and every week over a 12-week period (long-term study). Serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) and urinary deoxypyridinoline (Dpd) and N-terminal telopeptide of collagen (NTx) were measured with commercial enzyme immunoassays. Serum osteocalcin (OC) and carboxyterminal crosslinked telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) were measured with commercial radioimmunoassays. In the short-term study, statistically significant diurnal rhythms were identified for OC, BALP, ICTP, and Dpd. No clear rhythm was evident for NTx. There was no evidence of statistically significant long-term variability in marker excretion over the 12 weeks. Our findings confirm the utility of these assays in dogs. However, as in humans, care must be taken to ensure that specimens are collected at a consistent time of day. Moreover, given the inherent variability in marker excretion in individual animals, the most appropriate use for these assays is as a screening tool for cohort studies, rather than as a diagnostic or prognostic tool in the individual animal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) is a highly prevalent respiratory disease affecting popular short-faced dog breeds such as Pugs and French bulldogs. BOAS causes significant morbidity, leading to poor exercise tolerance, sleep disorders and a shortened lifespan. Despite its severity, the disease is commonly missed by owners or disregarded by veterinary practitioners. A key clinical sign of BOAS is stertor, a low-frequency snoring sound. In recent years, a functional grading scheme has been introduced to semi-objectively grade BOAS based on the presence of stertor and other abnormal signs. However, correctly grading stertor requires significant experience and adding an objective component would aid accuracy and repeatability. This study proposes a recurrent neural network model to automatically detect and grade stertor in laryngeal electronic stethoscope recordings. The model is developed using a novel dataset of 665 labelled recordings taken from 341 dogs with diverse BOAS clinical signs. Evaluated via nested cross validation, the neural network predicts the presence of clinically significant BOAS with an area under the receiving operating characteristic of 0.85, an operating sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 86%. The algorithm could enable widespread screening for BOAS to be conducted by both owners and veterinarians, improving treatment and breeding decisions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 McDonald et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Previous studies have shown that the most reliable external conformational risk factor of whether a brachycephalic dog will develop Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS) is the status of nostril stenosis, assessed as a static observation using the brachycephalic nostril grading scheme. The nostrils however are a dynamic structure, opening further when the dog is exercising, sniffing or panting. The hypothesis of this study was that brachycephalic dogs with open or mildly stenotic nostrils are more likely to have nostril mobility whilst dogs with moderately or severely stenotic nostrils are more likely to have immobile nostrils. A retrospective study of dogs presented for BOAS assessment at two UK referral centres between 2012 and 2020 was performed. Data extracted included nares stenosis status and nares mobility. A mesocephalic pilot control group was recruited from a third referral centre. Statistical analysis was performed with χ2, Cochran-Armitage, spearman's rho and linear-by-linear tests as appropriate. Of the 974 brachycephalic dogs included in the study: 124 had open nostrils (68.5% mobile); 212 mildly stenotic nostrils (58.5% mobile); 379 moderately stenotic nostrils (35% mobile) and 259 severely stenotic nostrils (19.3% mobile). The nostril stenotic status was significantly associated with nostril wing mobility (χ2 =135.55; P<0.0001). When considering open and mildly stenotic (considered acceptable) nostrils versus moderate and severely stenotic nostrils, mobility was 62% versus 25.5% (χ2= 135.88; P = <0.0001). All 27 mesocephalic dogs had nostril mobility. Brachycephalic dogs with moderate and severely stenotic nares have reduced nasal mobility compared to brachycephalic dogs with mildly stenotic and open nares. Data is further evidence that dogs with moderately and severely stenotic nares should not be bred., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None of the authors has any financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence or bias the content of the paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To describe sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in the Cavalier King Charles spaniel (CKCS)., Study Design: Retrospective case series., Animals: Five client-owned dogs referred for SDB., Methods: Medical records were reviewed including recheck appointments and routine preoperative and postoperative questionnaires. Whole-body barometric plethysmography was used to categorize SDB., Results: All dogs presented with multiple episodes of stertorous breathing, choking, and apnea during sleep. Severe nasal septal deviation, aberrant nasal turbinates, and soft palate elongation and thickening were noted on computed tomography and rhinoscopy of each dog. Whole-body barometric plethysmography measurements during sleep (in 3 dogs) documented periods of choking, snoring, and apnea. Treatment combined laser turbinectomy, folding flap palatoplasty, tonsillectomy, laryngeal sacculectomy, and cuneiform process resection. All dogs improved in terms of incidence and severity of sleep apnea within 1 week, with 4 of 5 dogs achieving complete resolution., Conclusion: The objective measurements used to characterize SDB in this population of CKCS provided some evidence to support an obstructive cause for this condition, which improved with surgical treatment., Clinical Significance: Sleep-disordered breathing in the CKCS is a different clinical presentation of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome. Our finding of intranasal abnormalities in these 5 dogs with SDB provides justification for future research into its clinical significance., (© 2018 The American College of Veterinary Surgeons.)

Background: A novel test using whole-body barometric plethysmography (WBBP) was developed recently to diagnose brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) in unsedated French bulldogs., Hypothesis/objectives: The hypotheses of this study were: (1) respiratory characteristics are different between healthy nonbrachycephalic dogs and brachycephalic dogs; and among pugs, French bulldogs, and bulldogs; and (2) obesity and stenotic nares are risk factors for BOAS. The main objective was to establish a diagnostic test for BOAS in these 3 breeds., Animals: A total of 266 brachycephalic dogs (100 pugs, 100 French bulldogs, and 66 bulldogs) and 28 nonbrachycephalic dogs., Methods: Prospective study. Exercise tolerance tests with respiratory functional grading, and WBBP were performed on all dogs. Data from WBBP were associated with functional grades to train quadratic discriminant analysis tools to assign dogs to BOAS+ and BOAS- groups. A BOAS index (0-100%) was calculated for each dog. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate classification ability., Results: Minute volume was decreased significantly in asymptomatic pugs (P = .009), French bulldogs (P = .026), and bulldogs (P < .0001) when compared to nonbrachycephalic controls. Respiratory characteristics were different among breeds and affected dogs had a significant increase in trace variation. The BOAS index predicted BOAS status for each breed with 94-97% (95% confidence interval [CI], 88.9-100%) accuracy (area under the ROC curve). Both obesity (P = .04) and stenotic nares (P = .004) were significantly associated with BOAS., Conclusions and Clinical Importance: The WBBP can be used as a clinical tool to diagnose BOAS noninvasively and objectively., (Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)

Prevalence of subclinical middle ear lesions in dogs that undergo computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging of the head has been reported up to 41%. A predisposition in brachycephalics has been suggested, however evidence-based studies are lacking. Aims of this retrospective cross-sectional study were to compare CT characteristics of the middle ear in groups of nonbrachycephalic and brachycephalic dogs that underwent CT of the head for conditions unrelated to ear disease, and test associations between thickness of the soft palate and presence of subclinical middle ear lesions. One observer recorded CT findings for each dog without knowledge of group status. A total of 65 dogs met inclusion criteria (25 brachycephalic, 40 nonbrachycephalic). Brachycephalic dogs had a significantly thicker bulla wall (P = 2.38 × 10(-26)) and smaller luminal volume (P = 5.74 × 10(-20)), when compared to nonbrachycephalic dogs. Soft palate thickness was significantly greater in the brachycephalic group (P = 2.76 × 10(-9)). Nine of 25 brachycephalic dogs had material in the lumen of the tympanic cavity, compared to zero of 45 of nonbrachycephalics. Within the brachycephalic group, a significant difference in mean soft palate thickness was identified for dogs with material in the middle ear (12.2 mm) vs. air-filled bullae (9 mm; P = 0.016). Findings from the current study supported previous theories that brachycephalic dogs have a greater prevalence of subclinical middle ear effusion and smaller bulla luminal size than nonbrachycephalic dogs. Authors recommend that the bulla lumen volume formula previously developed for mesaticephalic dogs, (-0.612 + 0.757 [lnBW]) be adjusted to 1/3(-0.612 + 0.757 [lnBW]) for brachycephalic breeds., (© 2016 American College of Veterinary Radiology.)

Practical Relevance: Feline injection site-associated sarcomas (FISSs) have been the cause of much controversy and concern since they were first reported in the early 1990s. While not solely associated with vaccination, there are implications for vaccination sites and schedules and, while guidance has been published, this appears to be permeating only slowly through to general practice., Clinical Challenges: Up to one-quarter of cats with this difficult condition have metastatic lung involvement. The mainstay of treatment is aggressive surgery, but even in cases where full excision with clean margins is achieved, tumour recurrence is anticipated in about one-third of cases. The role of radiotherapy and chemotherapy as adjuvant treatments has yet to be clearly defined., Patient Group: FISSs are often seen in younger cats, with a peak presentation at 6-7 years and a second peak at 10-11 years., Evidence Base: This review summarises the diagnosis and management of FISS with reference to the latest published treatment results. It focuses on surgical excision but also covers adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and gives median survival times for the different treatment approaches.

A case of cutaneous haemangiosarcoma of the left lower eyelid in a 15-year-old white domestic shorthair cat is reported. A protuberant red mass occupying one-third of the lower eyelid margin length was present. Intermittent haemorrhage occurred from the mass surface. Surgical biopsy had revealed a locally invasive tumour composed of numerous irregular blood-filled spaces lined by a single layer of plump endothelial cells and separated by thin fibrous septa. Mitotic activity was rare and the appearance was consistent with a low-grade haemangiosarcoma. The mass continued to enlarge and referral was sought. Due to financial constraints and the owner's wish for a single procedure, enucleation with an axial pattern flap based on the superficial temporal artery was undertaken. Histopathology of the excised tissue confirmed the presence of a well-differentiated haemangiosarcoma. Tumour-free excisional margins were confirmed, the surgical area healed uneventfully, and there has been no recurrence during the subsequent 16 months.

In humans affected with inflammatory myopathies, regions of altered signal intensity are found on magnetic resonance (MR) images of affected muscles. Although electromyography (EMG) is more practical for muscle disease evaluation, and a muscle biopsy is the only manner in which a definitive diagnosis can be made, MR imaging has proven useful if a specific anatomic localization is difficult to achieve. Three dogs with focal inflammatory myopathy diagnosed with the assistance of MR imaging are discussed and the findings are compared with those found in humans. MR images of the affected muscles in each dog were characterized by diffuse and poorly marginated abnormal signal on T1- and T2-weighted images. Marked enhancement was noted in these muscles after contrast medium administration. An inflammatory myopathy was confirmed histologically in all three dogs. A good association existed between the MR images and muscle inflammation identified histopathologically. MR imaging may be a useful adjunctive procedure for canine inflammatory myopathies.

We report the first documented case of canine strangles due to infection with Streptococcus equi in a dog with enlarged lymph nodes. Genetic typing, via sequencing of 12 housekeeping genes and the SeM gene, demonstrated the isolate to be a member of a common equine strain type circulating in the United Kingdom.