A comparison of outcomes between laparoscopic and open adrenalectomies in dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To compare short- and long-term outcomes of dogs with adrenal tumors treated by adrenalectomy with laparoscopy or laparotomy. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study of dogs that underwent adrenalectomy with laparoscopy or laparotomy. SAMPLE POPULATION: Fourteen dogs treated with laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) and twenty-six dogs treated with open midline adrenalectomy (OA). METHODS: Dogs treated with LA were matched with 1 or 2 dogs treated with OA on the basis of histological nature, size, and side of the tumor. Intraoperative complications, postoperative complications, and long-term survival were compared between LA and OA. RESULTS: Intraoperative hypotension occurred in 2 of 14 (14.3%) dogs in the LA group and in 16 of 26 (61.5%) dogs in the OA group (P = .007). The surgical time was 69.8 ± 21.8 minutes for the LA group and 108.6 ± 42 minutes for the OA group (P = .0003). The hospitalization time was 39.3 ± 14.9 hours for the LA group and 46.3 ± 25.1 hours for the OA group (P = .1453). The 1- and 2-year survival rates were 77% and 77%, respectively, for the LA group and 77% and 66%, respectively, for the OA group (P = .6144). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy was associated with a shorter surgical time and a reduced incidence of hypotension compared with open adrenalectomy in this case-matched study. Short- and long-term outcomes were not affected by the surgical technique used to complete the adrenalectomy. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Laparoscopy can be recommended for adrenalectomy in dogs; however, appropriate case selection is required.

Perineal urethrostomy in male dogs - Technique description, short- and long-term results.

The perineal urethrostomy (PU) technique has only been vaguely described in the dog. Additionally, details of short- and long-term postoperative complications are not well documented. The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed description of PU in male dogs and describe the post-operative course. Eight adult, intact, male, mixed-breed dogs were used for this study. A perineal urethrostomy was performed on each, using the described technique. Dogs were assessed daily for 70 to 419 d after surgery, and stoma site patency was assessed at planned intervals using a 12 French Foley catheter as well as a 5.5-mm rigid cystoscope. Surgical time and short- and long-term complications were recorded. The perineal urethrostomy stoma sites of all 8 dogs were determined to be patent and no strictures were identified during the entire time course of this study. No major complications occurred during the follow-up period. Three dogs developed minor, self-resolving incisional dehiscence. The mean surgery time was 62.9 ± 14.1 minutes (mean ± SD). Canine perineal urethrostomy as described can be performed with minimal short- and long-term complications.

Urétrostomie périnéale chez le chien mâle ­ Description de la technique, résultats à court et à long terme. La technique d'urétrostomie périnéale (PU) n'a été que vaguement décrite chez le chien. De plus, les détails des complications postopératoires à court et à long terme ne sont pas bien documentés. Le but de cette étude était de fournir une description détaillée de l'UP chez les chiens mâles et de décrire l'évolution postopératoire. Huit chiens adultes, intacts, mâles et de race mixte ont été utilisés pour cette étude. Une urétrostomie périnéale a été réalisée sur chacun, en utilisant la technique décrite. Les chiens ont été évalués quotidiennement pendant 70 à 419 jours après la chirurgie, et la perméabilité du site de la stomie a été évaluée à intervalles planifiés à l'aide d'un cathéter de Foley de 12 French ainsi que d'un cystoscope rigide de 5,5 mm. Le temps opératoire et les complications à court et à long terme ont été enregistrés. Les sites de stomie de l'urétrostomie périnéale des huit chiens ont été déterminés comme étant perméables et aucune sténose n'a été identifiée pendant toute la durée de cette étude. Aucune complication majeure n'est survenue au cours de la période de suivi. Trois chiens ont développé une déhiscence incisionnelle mineure et auto-résolue. La durée moyenne de l'intervention était de 62,9 ± 14,1 minutes (moyenne ± SD). L'urétrostomie périnéale canine telle que décrite peut être réalisée avec un minimum de complications à court et à long terme.(Traduit par Dr Serge Messier).

Norwich terriers possess a greater vertebral heart scale than the canine reference value.

Previous studies have demonstrated evidence that normal reference ranges for radiographic vertebral heart scale values can vary among dog breeds. The purpose of this retrospective, observational study was to determine whether the normal vertebral heart scale values published by Buchanan and Bücheler for lateral radiographs are applicable to the Norwich terrier. Secondary objectives were to determine if clinical signs of respiratory disease, age, sex, weight, body condition score, recumbency, or thoracic depth-to-width ratio had any influence on vertebral heart scale measurements in this breed. The electronic medical record systems of two universities were reviewed and Norwich terriers were included in the study if they had orthogonal thoracic radiographs performed and no historical or radiographic evidence of cardiopulmonary disease. A vertebral heart scale was calculated for each patient. Sixty-one client-owned, Norwich terrier dogs with no clinical signs of cardiovascular disease were evaluated. The vertebral heart scale for Norwich terriers without evidence of cardiac disease (10.6 ± 0.6) was found to be significantly greater than the canine reference value of 9.7 ± 0.5 initially established by Buchanan and Bücheler. No significant correlation was found between clinical signs of respiratory disease, sex, age, thoracic depth-to-width ratio or lateral recumbency, and vertebral heart scale. Norwich terriers with a body condition score ≥6 had a significantly higher vertebral heart scale than those with a body condition score ≤5. Breed-specific ranges and body condition scores need to be considered when interpreting vertebral heart scale values for Norwich terriers.

The effects of biological fouling control at coastal and estuarine power stations.

The use of low levels of oxidants as antifouling agents in coastal and estuarine power station cooling water circuits can give rise to concerns over the likely production of chlorination byproducts (CBPs) including organohalogens, of largely cryptic identity, loading and impact. In order to review the current understanding of the degree of impact involved this paper describes a recent collaborative programme of work on CBPs within the wider context of a number of allied studies on power station cooling water entrainment and discharge effects. Bromoform was the single most important CBP found in coastal power station effluents. Although bromoform was found to accumulate in the liver of the sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (L.) continuously exposed to a chlorinated effluent stream, no otherwise untoward impact on continuously exposed individuals was discerned. Populations of the common blue mussel Mytilus edulis L., likewise exposed, exhibited two responses: a high degree of genoplasticity and the evolution of stress proteins--although both may have been due to thermal rather than toxic stress. Experiments on plankton that simulated the conditions of entrainment within cooling water systems isolated the influence of oxidant usage, with mortality varying between taxa and life stage. The results suggest a very limited impact of oxidant use and the associated CBPs on receiving waters both in terms of plume toxicity or any more widespread ecotoxicological influence. Instead, it is in combination with applied temperature (DeltaT), pressure and the other stressors involved in entrainment within the power station cooling water circuits themselves that an impact is most marked.

Sublethal effects of a chlorinated and heated effluent on the physiology of the mussel, Mytilus edulis L.: a reduction in fitness for survival?

Coastal power stations entrain large volumes of cooling water, requiring biocidal treatment to prevent biological fouling. Discharged effluent is both heated and contaminated with residual traces of biocide and so it is necessary to quantify the impacts of this discharge. Cooling water from Heysham 2 nuclear power station, NW England, UK, is discharged to the intertidal area, via a culvert (to minimise erosion and maximise dilution and dispersion by directing the effluent into the receiving water at all states of the tide) within which the effluent is contained at low water. The culvert and surrounding coastal area support a population of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). Mussel health was determined along a gradient of exposure, using three physiological indices: Scope for Growth, Gonad Mantle Index and Somatic Condition Index (K Factor). The Mussels within the culvert exhibited reduced physiological index values compared to an external site. A trend was identified down the length of the culvert, representing a gradient of exposure and indicating a potential negative effect on growth and reproductive output.