CT findings, management and short-term outcome of dogs with pyothorax: 101 cases (2010 - 2019).

OBJECTIVES: To describe diagnosis, CT findings, management and short-term outcome of a large population of canine pyothorax cases. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 101 canine pyothorax cases at two UK referral centres. Medical records and CT images were reviewed. Dogs were included if pre- and post-contrast CT was performed within 48 hours of presentation. RESULTS: CT abnormalities included pleural thickening (84.1%), pannus (67.3%), pneumothorax (61.4%), mediastinal effusion (28.7%), pulmonary (13.8%) and mediastinal (7.9%) abscessation, foreign body presence (7.9%), foreign body tracts (6.9%) and pneumonia (6.9%). Seventy-one percent of dogs were managed surgically, of which 90.2% survived, and 29% were managed medically, of which 72.4% survived. Overall mortality was 14.8% and 86.6% of these dogs died within 48 hours of admission. All dogs with evidence of a foreign body on CT underwent surgery. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Mortality in our population was low and most dogs that died did so within 48 hours of hospitalisation, regardless of management type.

A new method of computing the vertebral heart scale by means of direct standardisation.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe and compare a simplified vertebral heart scale computation method (Objective VHS) with the original Buchanan method (Buchanan VHS). METHODS: The Objective VHS was compared to the Buchanan VHS method in 42 dogs including 14 healthy dogs and 28 dogs with mitral insufficiency. For the Objective VHS, the sum of the length of the long and short axes of the cardiac silhouette obtained in centimetres using a metric ruler was subsequently converted into units of vertebral length by means of a direct standardization method. The Buchanan VHS was obtained as previously described. RESULTS: No significant differences in vertebral heart scale values were found between the two methods in all dogs. There was a strong positive correlation (0·99) between Objective VHS and Buchanan VHS. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The use of a direct standardization method based on a unit conversion allows -computation of vertebral heart scale values without transposing long and short axes to the cranial edge of T4.

Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis in six dogs: MRI, CSF and histological findings, treatment and outcome.

Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis has been described in humans as a rare, chronic progressive non-specific inflammatory and fibrotic disease of the dura mater. This is a case series of six canine cases of presumptive or confirmed intracranial idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis. These dogs were included in this retrospective study, based on magnetic resonance imaging findings. All presented with pachymeningeal thickening and enhancement without involvement of the leptomeninges on magnetic resonance imaging and no underlying cause identified on cerebrospinal fluid analysis, complete blood count, serum biochemistry and infectious disease titres. Histopathological examination was available in one case. Response to immunomodulatory treatment (corticosteroids and cytosine arabinoside) was achieved in five cases. Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis should be considered as a possible differential diagnosis for dogs with pachymeningeal thickening on magnetic resonance imaging and no identified underlying cause. The prognosis appears to be fair to poor.

Detection of spinal cord compression in dogs with cervical intervertebral disc disease by magnetic resonance imaging.

The medical records and magnetic resonance images of 33 dogs with surgically confirmed Hansen type I cervical intervertebral disc disease were reviewed. Fourteen of the dogs were chondrodystrophic and 19 were not chondrodystrophic. The most common clinical sign was neck pain, which affected 28 of the dogs, and 23 of the dogs were able to walk. Fifteen of the dogs had developed clinical signs acutely, within the previous 24 hours. On cross-sectional images the median area of spinal cord compression was 26 per cent (range 11 to 71 per cent) of the normal spinal cord area. The degree of spinal cord compression was significantly associated with the dogs' presurgical neurological status but not with their postsurgical neurological status. The dogs with an acute onset of clinical signs had more severe neurological dysfunction before surgery, but their condition improved more as a result of surgery.

Maxillary bone epithelial cyst in a dog.

A swelling ventromedial to the left eye of a one-year-old, neutered male Labrador failed to respond to antibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapy. Plain and contrast radiography revealed a spherical, radiolucent area, 1.5 cm in diameter, dorsomedial to the fourth maxillary premolar and rostral to the ethmoid region. The lesion was thin-walled, with a smooth radiopaque margin, and was clearly demarcated from the surrounding structures. Dacryocystography demonstrated no apparent physical association between the lesion and the nasolacrimal duct, the latter appearing normal. Ultrasonography of the lesion showed a round, anechoic structure consistent with the appearance of a cyst. Prior to surgical excision of the lesion, intralesional fluid was aspirated. Bacteriology of the fluid was negative for both aerobic and anaerobic organisms. Cytological examination of the fluid showed a few macrophages and small lymphocytes; neither significant inflammatory component nor neoplastic cells were found. Histology showed the lesion to be a benign epithelial cyst. The dog recovered uneventfully and there was no clinical evidence of recurrence within a two-year follow-up period.