Cardiac stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for control of refractory ventricular tachycardia: initial UK multicentre experience.

BACKGROUND: Options for patients with ventricular tachycardia (VT) refractory to antiarrhythmic drugs and/or catheter ablation remain limited. Stereotactic radiotherapy has been described as a novel treatment option. METHODS: Seven patients with recurrent refractory VT, deemed high risk for either first time or redo invasive catheter ablation, were treated across three UK centres with non-invasive cardiac stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). Prior catheter ablation data and non-invasive mapping were combined with cross-sectional imaging to generate radiotherapy plans with aim to deliver a single 25 Gy treatment. Shared planning and treatment guidelines and prospective peer review were used. RESULTS: Acute suppression of VT was seen in all seven patients. For five patients with at least 6 months follow-up, overall reduction in VT burden was 85%. No high-grade radiotherapy treatment-related side effects were documented. Three deaths (two early, one late) occurred due to heart failure. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac SABR showed reasonable VT suppression in a high-risk population where conventional treatment had failed.

Review of Rodent Euthanasia Methods.

The optimal choice of euthanasia method for laboratory rodents depends on a number of factors, including the scientific goals of the study, the need to minimize animal pain and/or distress, applicable guidelines and laws, the training and proficiency of personnel, and the safety and emotional needs of the personnel performing the euthanasia. This manuscript aims to provide guidance to researchers so they may select the method of euthanasia that results in minimal experimental confounds, such as the creation of artifact and alteration of tissues and analytes. Specific situations addressed include euthanasia of large numbers of rodents and euthanasia of neonates. Recent literature supports the notion of significant strain-dependent differences in response to euthanasia methods such as CO2 inhalation. To assist researchers in selecting a strain-appropriate method of euthanasia, the authors present a summary of methodologies for assessing the effectiveness of euthanasia techniques, including elements and parameters for a scoring rubric to assess them.

Reproductive abnormalities in aged female Macaca fascicularis.

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous reproductive tract abnormalities occurred in six female wild-caught, Philippine-origin, Macaca fascicularis. These animals were between 19 and 22 years of age and maintained in captivity for approximately 15 years. Clinical presentations ranged from asymptomatic to painful menses manifested as cyclical recumbency and lethargy. All animals had masses in the caudal ventral abdomen. METHODS: Diagnostics included physical examination, complete blood counts, clinical chemistries, radiography, and ultrasonography. All animals had an ovariosalpingohysterectomy. RESULTS: Histologic diagnoses included ovarian granulosa cell tumor, ovarian pseudocystic cavitation with encapsulating fibrosis, uterine smooth muscle hyperplasia, uterine leiomysarcoma, and uterine leiomyoma with possible adenomyosis. CONCLUSIONS: The abnormalities discovered in these animals present novel insight into the reproductive diseases prevalent in geriatric female M. fascicularis, which vary from that previously reported in other non-human primate species.

Cytopathic herpesvirus infection in a green iguana (Iguana iguana).

A juvenile male green iguana (Iguana iguana) died 5 days following movement to a room 3-5 degrees C cooler than its previous housing. Gross necropsy lesions were limited to thin body condition. Histologically the animal had multifocal, random, moderate to severe, acute hepatocellular necrosis with intranuclear inclusion bodies at the periphery of the necrotic areas. Electron microscopy of the liver revealed icosahedral viral particles approximately 110 nm in diameter, consistent with a herpesvirus infection. Characteristics of the herpesvirus are similar to those described for iguanid herpesvirus 1.