2015 - 84 (2)

Ununited anconeal process, part of the elbow dysplasia, is a common orthopedic developmentaldisorder in young, fast growing dogs of large and chondrodystrophic breeds. Proximal ulnar osteotomyis one of the possible treatments, provided that the animal is not adult yet. This intervention aims torestore the length proportion between the radius and the ulna, and thereby eliminating the upwardforce, which causes the ununited anconeal process. By performing the osteotomy, the olecranon cantilt, allowing the ununited anconeal process to fuse and resolving the lameness. When a proximal ulnarosteotomy is successfully performed without additional articular surgery, less osteoarthrosis will beformed and a better long-term result can be expected. In this article, the treatment by ulnotomy in ayoung Neapolitan Mastiff and its results are discussed.

Eeuwenlang was bloed aflaten via een snede in de aders (flebotomie, aderlating) ontzettendpopulair in de geneeskunde van mens en dier. Naast het meest gebruikelijke ‘slaan van bloed’in de halsader van paard en rund werd ook bloed afgelaten op diverse andere plaatsen, gaandevan het gehemelte tot de staart. Behalve veneus bloed werd soms ook arterieel bloed afgetapt.In de humane geneeskunde was ook het kunstmatig verwekken van lokale capillaire bloedingenpopulair. Dit gebeurde met behulp van Hirudo (echels, bloedzuigers) en met zogenaamde ‘laatkoppen’(vacuüm trekkende bokaaltjes op de huid). Het hoofddoel van al deze praktijken waszowel voor het volk als voor de artsen duidelijk: ziekteverwekkende stoffen (het ‘kwaad’) uithet lichaam laten ontsnappen. In de Hippocratisch-Galenische geneeskunde werd dit ingebed intheorieën over evenwicht (syncrasie) en onevenwicht (dyscrasie) van de verschillende lichaamsvochten(“humores”), waar mogelijk ook de verklaring lag voor de soms moeilijk toepasbare,lokale bloedafnamen dichtbij aangetaste lichaamsdelen.Een tweede, vooral in de diergeneeskunde ooit zeer belangrijke techniek bestond er in metbehulp van de zogenaamde etterdrachten of andere irriterende middelen kunstmatig lokale ontstekingenop te wekken. Hoewel de gelijkenis met aderlaten niet evident is, berust het geloof inde heilzame werking van deze ingreep op het zelfde hoofdprincipe: de ziekteverwekkende stof,het ‘kwaad’, moet uit het lichaam verdreven worden.

A four-year-old red Holstein Friesian cow was admitted to the clinic with fever and milkdrop. Blood analysis revealed the presence of a chronic infection, and the diagnosis of pyelonephritisof the right kidney was made after repeated ultrasound examinations. The animal wastreated with procaine benzylpenicillin, sulfadoxine trimethoprim, oxytetracycline and enrofloxacinebut this therapy was not successful. Nephrectomy was performed after the left kidney provedto have a normal function. The removed right kidney was greatly enlarged and filled with pus.Escherichia coli was isolated from the kidney. The strain was multidrug-resistant, including resistanceto aminopenicillins, streptomycin, sulfonamides and trimethoprim. The cow was treatedwith amoxicillin and clavulanic acid after the operation. Postoperatively, an abscess developedand a tube drain was placed during a second surgery to enable daily rinsing with a chlorhexidinesolution. After a postoperative care period of two months, the animal was sent back to the farm,where it returned to an acceptable level of milk production. This case demonstrates that withbasic surgical skills, a good preparation and knowledge of anatomy, nephrectomy is attainablefor a first-opinion veterinarian, with an acceptable economic prognosis for the farmer.

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is used in human medicine for the diagnosis of congestiveheart failure. Since BNP is species-specific and no equine assay is available, BNP has never beendetermined in horses. Because there is more than 90% homology between porcine and equineBNP, a porcine BNP enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was used in the present study tomeasure BNP in plasma of healthy horses (group 1; n=20), horses with cardiac disease without(group 2a; n=8) and with atrial dilatation (n=8), ventricular dilatation (n=1) or both (n=1) (group2b; n=10). Samples were stored at -20°C and -80°C to study the influence of storage temperature.No significant differences were found between the BNP concentrations of group 1 (77.79; 37.20-513.36 pg/mL), group 2a (52.02; 24.69-268.37 pg/mL) or 2b (94.73; 42.88-470.66 pg/mL). Samplesstored at -80°C showed significantly (72.19, 24.69-513.36 pg/mL; P=0.001) higher concentrationsthan samples stored at -20°C (47.35, 24.69-430.60 pg/mL). In this pilot study, it is suggested thatthe porcine BNP assay does not allow accurate detection of equine BNP. An equine specific BNPassay should be developed to study BNP concentrations in horses.   

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by a hypertrophic, non-dilated left ventricle.With a prevalence of approximately 0.2% in humans and 15% in cats, this is one of the most commonheart diseases. The disorder is often inherited but may also be acquired during life. The clinicalsymptoms may differ. Genotypically affected individuals can exhibit (severe) symptoms of heartfailure or die suddenly, but they can also stay asymptomatic during their entire life.More than 1400 gene polymorphisms have already been detected in thirteen genes that code forsarcomere proteins in the heart in humans. Some of them are, together with modifying genes andenvironmental factors, responsible for the development of HCM. To date, only three mutations havebeen identified in cats. Commercial tests are already available to diagnose them. These mutations areresponsible for only a small fraction of the cases of HCM in cats. It is important to identify as manymutations as possible in order to develop a control strategy.There are a lot of common grounds between the human and feline forms of HCM. There aresimilarities in the mode of inheritance (autosomal), the clinical appearance and the histopathologicalchanges. Still, there is not enough known about sarcomere proteins and their mutations to extrapolateinformation from humans to cats and vice versa.

The therapeutic use of canine mesenchymal stem cells (cMSC) is rapidly expanding. MSC are stromalcells, which show multipotent stem cell properties in vitro. They possess trophic, immunoregulatory,antimicrobial and hematopoiesis-supportive properties. Moreover, injected MSC are able to migrate tosites of hypoxia and inflammation. Recently, more evidence has become available showing that MSCmay originate from pericytes. Different microenvironments as well as non-standardized methods fortheir isolation and expansion lead to heterogeneous cell populations. Further research is essential inorder to use these promising therapies without restrictions in dogs.