2008 - 77 (4)

Paper in Dutch

This case describes the clinical and radiographic appearance, medical treatment and long-term followupof a 6-year-old French trotter stallion that was referred with an acute onset of pain and swelling at thetail-head without a history of traumatic insult. Radiographic examination revealed multiple semicircular andmillet-sized radiolucencies at the endplates of several adjacent caudal vertebrae, indicative of infective discospondylitis.The horse made a full clinical recovery after 7 weeks of antibiotic treatment with oral trimethoprim-sulfonamides and successfully resumed its athletic activities. Follow-up radiography after one yearshowed only slight residual irregularity at the epiphyses, without exuberant new bone formation or persis tingradiolucencies.

Recent information regarding clinical leptospirosis in Europe is sparse in comparison with informationabout this disease in the United States and certain other countries. A retrospective study describing sevenclinical cases of dogs diagnosed with leptospirosis on the basis of a MAT (Microscopic Agglutination Test),serology or autopsy at the Department of Medicine and Clinical Biology of Small Animals, Ghent University,between January 2003 and October 2005 is presented. All the dogs had non-specific clinical signs and presentedwith acute renal failure, with or without signs of liver insufficiency and/or bleeding tendencies. In the threedogs in which a MAT was performed, the highest antibody titers were found against Leptospira serogroupPomona (n=2) and Javanica (n=1). It is recommended to treat every patient with clinical signs and laboratoryabnormalities of acute renal failure without a known cause with penicillin derivatives until specific testingconfirms or rules out leptospirosis.

A multiresistant Morganella morganii subsp. morganii strain was isolated in pure culture from pneumoniclesions of a 3-week-old Belgian Blue calf, originating from a farm coping with chronic diarrhoea and respiratorytract disease as well as increased mortality in 1-3-week-old animals. Additionally, high numbers ofClostridium perfringens were isolated from the jejunum and a Giardia infection was diagnosed. Moreover,necropsy findings and histological examinations indicated nutritional myodegeneration. M. morganii is an opportunisticpathogen that is mainly associated with postoperative and nosocomial infections in immunosuppressedindividuals.

In veterinary oncology the use of the nitrosourea compound lomustine is increasing. Veterinary oncologistsneed to be aware of the pulmonary toxicity of this drug.Because of the lack of veterinary publications on this subject, the incidence and pathophysiology in humancancer patients of pulmonary toxicity induced by cytotoxic agents in general and by nitrosoureas in particularare discussed. Three clinical syndromes can be recognized, the most devastating of which is interstitialpneumonitis resulting in pulmonary fibrosis. Disturbances in the homeostatic mechanisms of the oxidant/antioxidant-,immunologic-, matrix repair-, proteolytic-, and central nervous systems are some of the major mechanismsof pulmonary injury in human medicine. Risk factors such as cumulative dose, age, radiation, oxygenadministration and multi-drug regimens are recognized.For the first time in veterinary medicine, a case report of a dog with pulmonary fibrosis, probably causedby chronic lomustine administration, is presented.

Paper in Dutch

Paper in Dutch

Paper in Dutch

Paper in Dutch