2011 - 80 (5)

Paper in Dutch

Paper in Dutch. Extraction, reposition, fetotomy (embryotomy) and even cesarean section have been part of human and animalobstetrics since ancient times. Destructive operations like craniotomy and embryotomy are the oldest type of obstetricaloperations.At the end of the 18th century the subcutaneous fetotomy was developed. It remained the preferred fetotomy methodin farm animals and horses till the beginning of the 20th century. Then the tubular fetotome was invented and thesubcutaneous fetotomy was replaced by the percutaneous fetotomy. This obstetrical method was easy to learn and itsresults were excellent. However, the fetus had to be sacrificed. Therefore, after the introduction of antibiotics, thepercutaneous fetotomy in cows was replaced by the cesarean section. In horses, the percutaneous fetotomy is still thepreferred obstetrical method as foals die rapidly and a partial fetotomy (one or two cuts) is in the majority of casessufficient to solve the obstetrical problem. Because of its minimal economic importance, obstetrics in small animals didnot receive any attention till the end of the 19th century. In these animal species, cesarean section is the best solution incases of serious obstetrical problems.

Paper in Dutch, no English version

This paper describes two infections with Clostridium tetani (C. tetani). One outbreak occurred after dehorningof calves, the second infection happened after ear tagging of a goat. In the first case 3 young HolsteinFriesian calves showed generalized stiffness, severe lock-jaw and bloat two weeks after dehorning. The thermaldehorning wounds were identified as the infection sites of C. tetani by bacterial culture and PCR. The secondcase was a three-year old male castrated goat, with generalized stiffness. The animal had been ear taggedone week prior to the onset of the symptoms. C. tetani could be cultured from pus on the ear tag.Treatment was attempted in two calves and the goat. Wounds were debrided and disinfected, penicillin andanti-tetanus serum were administered and polyionic perfusions provided. In addition, the goat was vaccinatedagainst tetanus. The goat and one calf fully recovered after 36 and 8 days respectively. To the authors’ knowledgea tetanus outbreak in association with thermal dehorning has not been described previously. Also eartagging as a possible cause for C. tetani infection has not been described in goats.

A 16-year-old horse was admitted to the clinic of the Department of Surgery and Anesthesiology of DomesticAnimals of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Ghent University) for the treatment of a very large, nonhealingwound extending over the dorsomedial and dorsolateral aspects of the left metatarsus. Surgicaldebridement of exuberant granulation tissue and new bone was performed under general anesthesia, followedby standard wound care under a bandage. Once a new bed of healthy granulation had formed, skin graftingwas performed using the punch graft method. Due to the presence of a significant amount of wound exudate,cast immobilization was considered to be contraindicated. Instead, vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy wasused as a method of securing the skin grafts to the wound bed during the first days post-operatively. After fivedays of VAC therapy, the wound dressing was removed and an acceptance of nearly 100% of the punch graftswas observed. Complete epithelialization of the wound was evident 42 days after skin grafting. As far as theauthors know, this is the first report describing the use of VAC therapy as a method of wound managementin combination with punch grafting on the distal limb of a horse.

A 2.5-year-old neutered male British Shorthair was presented with chronic lameness that had developed acutelyafter a jump on the bed. On clinical examination, moderate lameness was observed left hind and muscle atrophy waspresent. On palpation, the problem was located in the hip region. A ventrodorsal radiograph of the hips showed anirregular and radiolucent area in the femoral neck and a widened space between the femoral head and -neck at thelevel of the growth plate. Based on these findings, the conclusion was an old Salter-Harris type 1 fracture of the leftfemoral neck. After excision of the femoral head and -neck, the cat was again presented with symptoms right hind.On the radiographic examination of the hips, loosening of the right femoral head was visible. The diagnosis was metaphysealosteopathy of both hips. After a second excision of the femoral head and -neck, the cat recovered completely.This case demonstrates that the diagnosis of metaphyseal osteopathy is often missed, because of the initially vaguesymptoms and the similarity to a fracture of the femoral neck on radiography. The case also shows that it is importantto consider metaphyseal osteopathy in the differential diagnosis in cats suffering from fractures of the proximalfemoral neck after mild trauma.

Elbow dysplasia (ED) is a term used to describe the most common causes of elbow lameness. The term refersto ununited anconeal process (UAP), fragmented coronoid process (FCP), osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) andelbow incongruity, according to the International Elbow Working Group (IEWG). All conditions are polygeneticand multifactorial diseases that often occur in young, popular breeds. Elbow incongruity has been suggestedas a causative factor in most of these pathologies.The aim of this review was to describe the etiology and clinical appearance on radiography, computedtomography (CT) and arthroscopy, together with their treatment options and prognosis.

The French heartworm Angiostrongylus vasorum is a parasitic nematode that lives in the pulmonary vesselsand the heart of canids. Transmission occurs through ingestion of infected intermediate hosts, such as snailsand slugs. There are increasing reports of autochthonous infections in our neighbouring countries. Clinicalsigns usually relate to the respiratory system, coagulopathy and the neurologic system. Anorexia,gastrointestinal dysfunction and weight loss are also frequently observed. Diagnosis is not straightforward, butabnormalities detected by thoracic radiography, echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) orcomputed tomography (CT) scan can be helpful. Eosinophilia, regenerative anemia and thrombocytopeniawith or without abnormalities in the coagulation profile can occur. Definitive diagnosis is made bydemonstrating the parasite in the cerebrospinal fluid, in faeces (Baermann technique) and/or in bronchoalveolarlavage fluid. Treatment consists of anthelmintic drugs and supportive care if necessary.