Biophysical properties of alveolar surfactant in drever dogs with hunting associated pulmonary edema.

BACKGROUND: A syndrome of acute non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema associated with hunting is prevalent in the drever breed, but etiology of this syndrome is currently unknown. Alveolar surfactant has a critical role in preventing alveolar collapse and edema formation. The aim of this study was to investigate, whether the predisposition to hunting associated pulmonary edema in drever dogs is associated with impaired biophysical properties of alveolar surfactant. Seven privately owned drever dogs with recurrent hunting associated pulmonary edema and seven healthy control dogs of other breeds were included in the study. All affected dogs underwent thorough clinical examinations including echocardiography, laryngeal evaluation, bronchoscopy, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) as well as head, neck and thoracic computed tomography imaging to rule out other cardiorespiratory diseases potentially causing the clinical signs. Alveolar surfactant was isolated from frozen, cell-free supernatants of BAL fluid and biophysical analysis of the samples was completed using a constrained sessile drop surfactometer. Statistical comparisons over consecutive compression expansion cycles were performed using repeated measures ANOVA and comparisons of single values between groups were analyzed using T-test. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between groups in any of the biophysical outcomes of surfactant analysis. The critical function of surfactant, reducing the surface tension to low values upon compression, was similar between healthy dogs and affected drevers. CONCLUSIONS: The etiology of hunting associated pulmonary edema in drever dogs is not due to an underlying surfactant dysfunction.

Intraluminal tracheal lipoma as a rare cause of dyspnoea in a dog.

BACKGROUND: Tracheal tumors are rarely diagnosed in veterinary medicine and the majority of tracheal neoplasia reported in adult dogs are malignant. Intratracheal lipoma has not been previously reported in the veterinary literature. CASE PRESENTATION: A 7-year-old Briard dog was evaluated for inspiratory dyspnoea and an inspiratory wheeze. Cervical radiographs and tracheoscopic examination revealed an intratracheal mass that was surgically removed. The dog has been asymptomatic after the surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Based on histopathology, the mass was diagnosed as lipoma. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first published report of an intratracheal lipoma in the veterinary literature.