Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide in healthy calves and calves with congenital heart disease.

BACKGROUND: The basic and clinical implications of evaluating plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) concentration in calves are unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the plasma ANP concentration and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) in healthy calves subjected to volume overload (Study 1), and to compare the plasma ANP concentration in calves with or without heart disease (Study 2). ANIMALS: Six healthy calves were used in Study 1; disease calves and sick calves with (n = 9) and without congenital heart disease (CHD) (n = 9) were used in Study 2. METHODS: In Study 1, LVEDP in anesthetized calves was manipulated by IV administration of acetated Ringer's solution (rate of 100 mL/kg/h for 20 minutes) and furosemide. In Study 2, disease calves were identified by blood examination and echocardiography or pathological examination. The plasma ANP concentration was determined by a chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay for human alpha-ANP. RESULTS: In Study 1, preloading significantly increased the plasma ANP concentration (36 +/- 20-185 +/- 156, P < .01) and LVEDP (-11 +/- 7-2 +/- 12, P < .01) from the baseline. Furthermore, plasma ANP concentrations were strongly correlated with LVEDP (r= 0.61). In Study 2, the plasma ANP concentration was significantly higher in the calves with CHD than in the calves without heart disease (220 [67-970] versus 31 [10-86]; mean [range], P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Measurement of plasma ANP concentrations in calves can provide additional information useful for predicting hemodynamic abnormalities.

Endotoxin-induced injury of the central, autonomic and enteric nervous systems and intestinal muscularis in Thoroughbred horses.

To evaluate the effects of endotoxin on the morphology of the equine central, autonomic and enteric nervous system and intestinal muscularis, six Thoroughbred horses with experimentally induced endotoxaemia were examined. The lesions in the central nervous system consisted of perivascular oedema around arterioles, suggesting brain oedema, and ring haemorrhages around veins, similar to those in human patients with septic shock. In the cranial mesenteric ganglia, neuronal cell bodies became pink or red, with shrinkage of cytoplasm indicative of ischaemic changes; intramural and perivascular infiltration by erythrocytes and neutrophils occurred around arterioles in the epineurium (acute focal interstitial inflammation). In addition, transmission electron microscopy revealed oedema of the endoneurium and mesoaxon in the nerve fascicles running inside or outside the ganglia. Myenteric neurons showed shrinkage of the cytoplasm with multiple cytoplasmic vacuoles, suggesting ischaemic changes. Oedematous degeneration and coagulation necrosis of smooth muscle cells, with dissociation of the cells, were prominent in the tunica muscularis. It is suggested that arterionecrosis elicited by endotoxin and frequently observed in the autonomic and enteric nervous system and intestinal muscularis, was the result of vasoconstriction or vasospasm.

Changes in plasma ghrelin and growth hormone concentrations in mature Holstein cows and three-month-old calves.

We measured changes in plasma ghrelin and GH concentrations in mature Holstein cows and 3-mo-old female Holstein calves fed at scheduled times. Our objective was to determine the characteristics of ghrelin secretion in dairy cattle and its influence on GH. Animals were fed at 0800 and 1600 for 2 wk before and during experiments. Plasma was sampled for 24 h at 2-h intervals in Exp. 1. In mature cows, plasma ghrelin concentrations decreased (P < 0.01) just after 0800 but not at the 1600 feeding. Ghrelin concentrations were lower (P < 0.01) in calves than in mature cows and they did not decrease after feeding in calves. The temporal relationship between ghrelin and GH remained unclear. In Exp. 2, plasma was sampled 2 h before and after both morning and evening feedings at 20-min intervals. Plasma ghrelin concentrations decreased (P < 0.05) 40 min after 0800 feeding and 60 min after 1600 feeding in mature cows. These results indicate that in mature cows, plasma ghrelin concentration decreased after feeding, but this decrease was not evident in 3-mo-old calves. Further studies are required to define the relationship between plasma ghrelin and GH concentrations.

Sonography of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis.

Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI) is a relatively rare benign condition, and its sonographic findings have rarely been reported. We report on four cases of PCI in which sonography showed multiple immobile linear or spotty high echoes in the thickened colonic wall. These sonographic findings were more clearly visualized by using high-frequency probes and helped in establishing the diagnosis. In addition, color Doppler sonography confirmed the absence of portal gas and helped rule out fulminant PCI. When encountering patients with abundant abdominal gas, the possibility of PCI should be considered and the colonic wall and the portal vein should be meticulously observed by high-frequency probe and color Doppler sonography to prevent a delay in the diagnosis and to improve patient management.

Color Doppler findings of gastrointestinal varices.

BACKGROUND: Compared with esophageal varices, gastrointestinal varices are relatively rare, but they are clinically important because they tend to bleed massively. Color Doppler sonography is now widely used to diagnose the collaterals, but few color Doppler findings of gastric or intestinal varices have been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the sonographic and color Doppler findings of gastrointestinal varices and to determine the role of color Doppler sonography in the diagnosis of these varices. METHODS: We studied 30 patients who were diagnosed by endoscopy as having gastrointestinal varices (24 gastric, four duodenal, two intestinal) with color Doppler sonography and compared the results with the clinical data. The causes of gastric varices included liver cirrhosis (16/24, 66.7%), idiopathic portal hypertension (3/24, 12. 5%), chronic pancreatitis with splenic vein thrombosis (2/24, 8.3%), congenital biliary atresia (1/24, 4.2%), congenital hepatic fibrosis (1/24, 4.2%), and unknown (1/24, 4.2%). The causes of duodenal varices included idiopathic portal hypertension with portal thrombosis (3/4, 75%) and liver cirrhosis (1/4, 25%). RESULTS: The gastric wall at the fundus was thickened in 17 of 24 cases (70.8%) with gastric varices, and the duodenal wall was thickened in four of four cases (100%) with duodenal varices. Sonography revealed thrombosis in the splenic vein in two of two cases with gastric varices secondary to chronic pancreatitis and in the confluence of the superior mesenteric vein and the splenic vein in three of four cases with duodenal varices. Color Doppler sonography demonstrated multiple, slow constant blood flows in the thickened wall in 15 of 24 cases (62.5%) with gastric varices and in four of four cases (100%) with duodenal varices. It demonstrated accumulated slow constant blood flows in the cecum in the case with cecal varices. Color Doppler showed also the communication between the varices and the neighboring vascular system (superior mesenteric vein and inferior vena cava) in the case with cecal varices, but it did not directly reveal such a communication in the other 29 cases (96.7%). Color Doppler showed a hepatofugal flow in the left gastric vein in all the hemorrhagic gastric varicose patients with esophageal varices, but it showed a hepatopetal flow in the left gastric vein in the isolated nonhemorrhagic gastric varicose patients. CONCLUSION: Color Doppler sonography was very useful for the diagnosis of gastric and duodenal varices and for visualizing fine venous flows in the thickened gastric or duodenal wall. When it shows portal thrombosis in the confluence of the splenic vein and the superior mesenteric vein, duodenal varices should be suspected. The flow direction of the left gastric vein helps to differentiate hemorrhagic gastric varices from nonhemorrhagic ones.

Portal vein aneurysm: report of six cases and review of the literature.

Portal vein aneurysm is very rare, and its relation to portal hypertension has been emphasized. We report six cases of portal vein aneurysm (five extrahepatic and one intrahepatic). All patients were asymptomatic and had no signs suggestive of portal hypertension; the lesion was incidentally detected by ultrasound. Color Doppler sonography showed a constant hepatopetal flow along the aneurysmal wall, which immediately led to the diagnosis. We stress the usefulness of color Doppler sonography for studying the hemodynamics of this vascular anomaly and briefly review the literature.

Accuracy of liver puncture under US guidance: re-evaluation by microcomputer simulation model.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate, using microcomputer simulation models, the degree of distortion of the puncture needle in sonograms used during a liver puncture under ultrasound guidance. METHODS: We made a simplified simulation model of the puncture needle passing through the abdominal wall to the target lesion in the liver (cases without ascites), and additionally through ascites between the abdominal wall and the liver (cases with ascites), to evaluate the degree of distortion of the puncture needle in the sonogram. We considered the thicknesses and sound velocities of the abdominal wall and the ascites fluid, as well as the puncture angle, on the degree of distortion. RESULTS: (1) Cases without ascites: The puncture needle displayed on sonogram shifted predominantly anteriorly with a displacement error between 6 mm forward and 1 mm backward and with an angular error between 2.2 degrees forward and 0.1 degree backward when the abdominal wall was muscular, and the pattern of distortion had an inverted S-shape. It was displayed predominantly posteriorly with a displacement error between 14 mm backward and 2 mm forward and with an angular error between 3.7 degrees backward and 1.2 degrees forward when the abdominal wall was fatty, and the pattern was S-shaped. Regardless of the composition of the abdominal wall, when the abdominal wall was thin, the more obtuse the puncture angle was, the larger the shift was, and when the abdominal wall was thick, the more acute the puncture angle was, the larger the shift was. (2) Cases with ascites: (a) Regardless of the quantity and sound velocity of the ascites, the puncture needle shifted predominantly anteriorly with a displacement error between 7 mm forward and 3 mm backward and with an angular error between 3.1 degrees forward and 1.9 degrees backward when the abdominal wall was muscular, and showed the inverted S-shaped pattern. In contrast, it shifted predominantly posteriorly with a displacement error between 17 mm backward and 5 mm forward and with an angular error between 3.7 degrees backward and 3.9 degrees forward when the abdominal wall was fatty, and showed the S-shaped pattern. (b) Regardless of the sound velocity of the ascites fluid and the composition of the abdominal wall, the shift of the puncture needle changed little with differing amounts of ascites. CONCLUSION: It is highly recommended that a liver puncture under US guidance be performed taking into account the pattern of distortion of the puncture needle in each situation.

Portal hypertension in children and young adults: sonographic and color Doppler findings.

Portal hypertension is a relatively uncommon pathologic condition in children and young adults in contrast with older adults. The aim of this study is to evaluate the utility of sonography and color Doppler sonography in the diagnosis of portal hypertension in children and young patients and to evaluate the sonographic pattern of each disease. We reviewed 25 such patients who were younger than 30 years old and obtained the following sonographic findings: (1) liver cirrhosis: (a) multiple intrahepatic venovenous shunts in patients with primary Budd-Chiari syndrome and (b) intrahepatic vascular narrowing and nodular coarse parenchymal texture, with multiple very-high-echo spots along the portal vein in patients with Wilson disease; (2) congenital hepatic fibrosis: marked and developed collaterals, wide periportal echogenic band, and a heterogeneous parenchymal texture comprised of multiple high echoes but without portal thrombus; and (3) extrahepatic portal thrombosis: invisible portal lumen except as an echogenic band. Sonography and color Doppler sonography are very useful in diagnosing these portal hypertensive diseases. However, there are no specific sonographic findings, and the role of sonography is limited to follow-up observation of associated secondary hepatobiliary changes in patients with congenital biliary atresia.

Large extrahepatic portosystemic shunt without portal hypertension.

Extrahepatic portosystemic shunt usually occurs secondary to severe portal hypertension, and it is rare to encounter it in patients without portal hypertension. We report herein a large extrahepatic portosystemic shunt between the left gastric vein and left renal vein without portal hypertension in which color Doppler sonography was useful not only for detection but evaluation of the effect of embolization.

[Two cases of anorectal malignant melanoma].

Although on anorectal malignant melanoma is relatively rare, we report two cases, that of a 88-year-old woman, and a 78-year-old man. Both patients were admitted to the hospital due to rectal bleeding and were diagnosed as having rectal carcinoma. Following an abdominoperineal rectal amputation, a pathological examination of the resected specimens revealed a malignant melanoma. Thus, it is necessary to carry out a careful examination of patients with tumors of the anorectal region when there is the least suspicion of a malignancy.

Luteal hypoplasia and in vitro granulosa cells proliferation in cows.

Two groups of cows were set up. In one group ovulation was induced, leading to luteal hypoplasia (FSH non-injection group or group 1). In the other group ovulation was induced and FSH injected simultaneously to improve luteinization (FSH injection group or group 2). Granulosa cells were collected from the ovarian follicles of the cows of the two groups immediately before ovulation. Their ability to proliferate and secrete progesterone in vitro was compared between the two groups. Granulosa cells proliferated in vitro more rapidly in group 2 than in group 1. Therefore, FSH injection was proved to be very effective for the proliferation of these cells. Cultured granulosa cells showed the same morphology, regardless of the FSH injection. They presented changes from fibroblast-like cells to epithelioid cells after adhering to a coverslip. They were transformed to epithelioid cells, however, earlier in group 2 than in group 1. Their ability to secrete progesterone in vitro was essentially the same between the two groups. Progesterone secretion decreased gradually in amount in both groups with the advance in culture. Therefore, it was considered that luteal hypoplasia might have been caused by a low ability of granulosa cells, which would be transformed to lutein cell, to proliferate.

Retention of tubal eggs in mares.

Genital tracts from 227 mares slaughtered in various reproductive states were investigated to study egg retention in the oviducts. Eggs were found in 88-2% of 212 non-pregnant mares; the number/mare ranged from 0 to 21, and averaged 4-34. Retained eggs were twice as common in heavy as in light breeds and were found more frequently in early than in late pregnancy. Eggs were not found in the oviducts of two anovulatory post-partum mares. A few globular masses, probably consisting of desquamated tubal mucosa, were frequently lodged in the distal region of the ampulla and appeared, to some extent to cause the retention of more eggs.