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Echocardiographic evaluation of the right side of the heart is limited by inherent difficulties in accessing views, and thus a variety of other diagnostic modalities, including computed tomography, have been proposed for right heart evaluation. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to review previously reported data and add computed tomography as a new tool for assessment of the right side of the heart, using echocardiography as a reference. Physical examination, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, and thoracic computed tomography images were acquired in 6 healthy dogs. Structural assessments of the right atrium, the right ventricle, and the pulmonary artery were performed. Data from computed tomography were compared with conventional echocardiography. The agreement between the techniques was satisfactory for most of the evaluated parameters. There was no correlation between tomographic variables and weight and heart rate. Males had a higher mean basal right ventricle diameter (20.92 ± 1.45) compared to females (16.84 ± 0.03). There was a statistically significant difference between the medium right ventricle, right atrium, right ventricle free wall, aorta, pulmonary artery, and left ventricle diameters and the right ventricle/ left ventricle ratio between computed tomography and ultrasound. Good repeatability was found for the tomographic analyses, and the coefficients of variation were similar for most variables between the intraobserver and interobserver analyses. Computed tomography-derived measurements are simple to perform and have good repeatability and satisfactory agreement for most of the parameters evaluated on the echocardiogram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (MMVD) is the most common heart disease affecting small dogs, it reduces cardiac output resulting in compensatory adaptation of the autonomic nervous system. Chronically, it leads to reduced heart rate variability (HRV) which is an accurate marker for autonomic balance. More than two decades ago in human medicine an indicator of autonomic balance that happens after a premature ventricular beat, it was described as heart rate turbulence (HRT). In humans with ischemic heart disease, the absence of HRT has proven to be a more accurate and an independent indicator of mortality than known HRV parameters. Currently, there are very few studies of HRT in dogs and it is still not tested in small dogs within different stages of myxomatous mitral valve disease. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the HRT indicators, onset and slope, in small dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease and to statistically test it. Methods: Dogs under 25 kg had electrocardiogram and echocardiography performed and, in some patients, holter monitoring was carried out. Data were divided into groups B1, B2, C, and D for mean comparison with analysis of variance and Tukey test. In addition, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for differentiating among symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs and for differentiating between remodeled and non-remodeled hearts. The Pearson was executed after correlations of turbulence onset (TO) and turbulence slope (TS) with commonly used echocardiographic parameters. Results: Variance analyses held significant differences in TO and TS between stages B1 from stages C and D, while B2 held similarity to the other groups. In the receiver operating curve was found a very good area under the curve for differentiating among symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs and remodeled and non-remodeled dogs. Few echocardiography parameters held weak correlation with TO while others held weak to moderate correlation with TS. Conclusion: In dogs with MMVD and without other diseases, HRT is a feasible indicator for autonomic balance. Our result suggests HRT changes as the MMVD progresses and congestive heart failure is present. More studies with HRT are needed. The number of ventricular premature contractions (VPCs) may be the strongest limitation for the technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rangeliosis, caused by Rangelia vitalii, is known to causes apathy, intermittent fever, ear's margin bleeding and anemia. Herein, we report the first molecular detection of R. vitalii infecting a dog from the Curitiba metropolitan region, Paraná State, southern Brazil. A four-year-old male mixed-breed neighborhood dog, presenting apathy, weight loss, and ear's margin bleeding, was referred for clinical care at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Universidade Federal do Paraná. Sequencing of the piroplasm positive sample showed >99% identity with R. vitalii 18S rDNA sequence deposited in GenBank. Further studies are needed to elucidate the pathogenicity, competence vector of ticks and epidemiology of this protozoa the State of Paraná. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Measurement of body temperature is a routine part of the clinical assessment of a patient. However, this procedure may be time-consuming and stressful to most animals because the standard site of temperature acquisition remains the rectal mucosa. Although an increasing number of clinicians have been using auricular temperature to estimate core body temperature, evidence is still lacking regarding agreement between these two methods in cats. In this investigation, we evaluated the agreement between temperatures measured in the rectum and ear in 29 healthy cats over a 2-week period. Temperatures were measured in the rectum (using digital and mercury-in-glass thermometers) and ear once a day for 14 consecutive days, producing 406 temperature readings for each thermometer. Mean temperature and confidence intervals were similar between methods, and Bland–Altman plots showed small biases and narrow limits of agreement acceptable for clinical purposes. The interobserver variability was also checked, which indicated a strong correlation between two near-simultaneous temperature readings. Results are consistent with auricular thermometry being a reliable alternative to rectal thermometry for assessing core body temperature in healthy cats. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses a study which examines the impact of an autologous stem cell transplantation on the cardiac function of dogs with Chagas cardiomyopathy. Findings reveal that no changes were depicted in the electrocardiogram and blood pressure, but a significant increase in peak velocity of aortic flow was recorded three months after the transplantation. It concludes that the said procedure might have a beneficial effect to dogs.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is characterized by reduced heart rate variability. Although various methods to achieve parasympathetic withdrawal and sympathetic activation have been documented, stimulation of the vagal nerve (that is, vagal maneuvers) has not often been used to assess the autonomic impairment associated with disease progression in veterinary species. In this study, we investigated cardiac autonomic control in a naturally occurring canine model of mitral insufficiency by means of individual responses to oculocardiac reflex. Indices of heart rate variability were calculated from 5-min ECG tracings obtained before and after ocular compression. After compression, significant increases in the standard deviation of RR intervals, root mean square of the successive differences in RR intervals, and vasovagal tonus index were documented in healthy control animals. In addition, these indices were increased in asymptomatic dogs with remodeled hearts, but no variation occurred in symptomatic animals. Although only the percentage change in vasovagal tonus index differed significantly between controls and diseased dogs, all other parameters showed a tendency to behave the opposite way in the symptomatic group as in the control and asymptomatic groups. Our results document CHF-dependent autonomic dysfunction in a canine model of valve insufficiency.

This study assessed the effects of a single intracoronary injection of autologous stem cells on the cardiac function of dogs with Chagas cardiomyopathy. Bone-marrow-derived stem cells were delivered into the right and left coronary arteries of 5 mature dogs with mildly compromised cardiac function due to chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy. Blood pressure and electrocardiographic and echocardiographic parameters were recorded at monthly intervals for 6 mo in the 3 dogs that survived. Although no changes were observed in the electrocardiogram and blood pressure, there was a significant increase in peak velocity of aortic flow 3 mo after stem cell transplantation. Pre-ejection period, isovolumic relaxation time, and the Tei index of myocardial performance were reduced significantly 4 mo after the procedure. All significant changes persisted to the end of the study. The results suggest that the transplantation of autologous bone-marrow-derived stem cells into the coronary arteries of dogs with Chagas cardiomyopathy may have a beneficial effect but the small number of dogs studied was a limitation.

Although the rectal mucosa remains the traditional site for measuring body temperature in dogs, an increasing number of clinicians have been using auricular temperature to estimate core body temperature. In this study, 88 mature healthy dogs had body temperatures measured with auricular and rectal thermometers. The mean temperature and confidence intervals were similar for each method, but Bland-Altman plots showed high biases and limits of agreement unacceptable for clinical purposes. The results indicate that auricular and rectal temperatures should not be interpreted interchangeably.

Amphetamine abuse in human beings has increased, resulting in many reports of toxicity and death. In the US over 4 million people have abused amphetamines at least once, thus small animals are exposed to increased accidental poisoning risk. This report describes an acute amphetamine poisoning in a dog due to ingestion of 15 mg/kg fenproporex, leading to typical signs of catecholamines release and effects in different organ systems. Similar clinical and laboratory findings observed in human beings are reviewed and physiopathogenic mechanisms discussed, as well as the therapeutic approaches available in veterinary medicine.