Change over time and agreement between clinical markers of disease resolution in dogs with aspiration-induced lung injury.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of consensus regarding which markers of disease resolution to prioritise when assessing treatment response in client-owned dogs with aspiration-induced lung injury. This study describes the change over time and the agreement between the clinical markers used to determine disease resolution. METHODS: Physical examination (PE), owner-reported clinical signs (CS-O), thoracic radiographs (TXR) scores and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations were determined at enrolment, after 24, 48 and 72 hours, and after 7, 14 and 28 days. RESULTS: PE scores were significantly improved at 48 hours, while CRP initially increased (24 hours) and then decreased (48 hours). PE, CS-O and CRP significantly improved earlier (7 days) than TXR (14 days). The median number of days to marker normalisation was 7, 9 and 14 for PE, CRP and CS-O, respectively. Marker agreement was excellent/very good at enrolment and fair/poor during disease recovery. LIMITATIONS: Analysis did not control for differences aetiology of aspiration or the lack of standardisation in treatment approach. CONCLUSIONS: PE was the earliest and most consistent marker indicating disease resolution. Serial CRP monitoring (72 hours) may provide an objective marker of early treatment response. Alongside PE normalisation, improvement in CS-O, CRP and TRX may assist in determining disease resolution and guide treatments, including limiting antibiotic exposure in dogs with aspiration-induced lung injury.

Growth of adenocarcinoma from canine pleural fluid on aerobic bacterial culture.

We report a case of canine adenocarcinoma with multi-organ metastasis in which colonies of adenocarcinoma cells grew upon aerobic bacterial culture of pleural effusion. Stained agar colonies were highly similar to rare suspicious cells seen on cytologic examination of the pleural effusion, as well as rare cells seen on cytologic examination of pancreatic and gastric wall fine-needle aspirates. Cells from colonies growing on agar media were mildly immunoreactive for cytokeratin. Histologic examination of tissues obtained at autopsy revealed pancreatic adenocarcinoma with vascular invasion and nodal, gastric, pulmonary, and pleural metastasis.

Relationship between automated total nucleated cell count and enumeration of cells on direct smears of canine synovial fluid.

Canine osteoarthritis is a common disorder seen in veterinary clinical practice and causes considerable morbidity in dogs as they age. Synovial fluid analysis is an important tool for diagnosis and treatment of canine joint disease and obtaining a total nucleated cell count (TNCC) is particularly important. However, the low sample volumes obtained during arthrocentesis are often insufficient for performing an automated TNCC, thereby limiting diagnostic interpretation. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether estimation of TNCC in canine synovial fluid could be achieved by performing manual cell counts on direct smears of fluid. Fifty-eight synovial fluid samples, taken by arthrocentesis from 48 dogs, were included in the study. Direct smears of synovial fluid were prepared, and hyaluronidase added before cell counts were obtained using a commercial laser-based instrument. A protocol was established to count nucleated cells in a specific region of the smear, using a serpentine counting pattern; the mean number of nucleated cells per 400 × field was then calculated. There was a positive correlation between the automated TNCC and mean manual cell count, with more variability at higher TNCC. Regression analysis was performed to estimate TNCC from manual counts. By this method, 78% of the samples were correctly predicted to fall into one of three categories (within the reference interval, mildly to moderately increased, or markedly increased) relative to the automated TNCC. Intra-observer and inter-observer agreement was good to excellent. The results of the study suggest that interpretation of canine synovial fluid samples of low volume can be aided by methodical manual counting of cells on direct smears.

Impact of disinfectant-filled foot mats on mechanical transmission of bacteria in a veterinary teaching hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of disinfectant-filled foot mats at reducing tracking of Salmonella enterica and overall bacterial contamination on floors in a veterinary teaching hospital. DESIGN: Prospective study. Samples-Bacteria collected from floors before and after placement of disinfectant-filled foot mats. PROCEDURES: Foot mats filled with a phenolic-based disinfectant were placed at key transition areas in common-use corridors between the large animal hospital (LAH) and small animal hospital in a veterinary medical teaching hospital. Microbiological samples were collected for total bacterial counts and for the presence of S enterica at 14 designated sample sites in the veterinary medical teaching hospital. Samples were collected at regular intervals for 7 months before mat placement and for 13 months after mat placement. RESULTS: Median numbers of aerobic bacteria isolated before and after disinfectant mat placement were not significantly different for most sites sampled. For 3 of the 4 transition areas between the LAH and connecting common-use corridor, there was a significant difference in median bacterial counts on either side of the threshold. This difference was significant regardless of whether a disinfectant mat was present or not. Salmonella enterica isolates were cultured from several sites in the LAH and sites outside the LAH, irrespective of the presence of a disinfectant mat. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: -Disinfectant-filled mats may not be uniformly effective in reducing the bacterial load on floors or in reducing mechanical tracking of S enterica from contaminated areas in a veterinary teaching hospital. Further studies are needed to determine effective measures to reduce mechanical transmission of bacteria on footwear in veterinary hospitals.