Radical mastectomy in 20 ruminants.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a surgical technique for radical mastectomy in ruminants and to report experience and outcome in 20 animals. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. ANIMALS: Seventeen goats and 3 cows. METHODS: Medical records of ruminants that had radical mastectomy between June 1, 1987 and June 1, 2003 were reviewed. Follow-up information was obtained by telephone interview of owners. RESULTS: One animal died within 24 hours from complications of gangrenous mastitis and another died from necrotizing cellulitis. Eighteen animals were discharged and follow-up information was available for 15 animals; 12 animals lived at least 1 year postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Ruminants with severe but localized diseases of the udder did well after radical mastectomy. The procedure was well tolerated, made the animals more comfortable, and potentially prolonged their lives as pets. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Radical mastectomy can be a safe and effective procedure for ruminants with udder disease, with few complications.

Sound signature for identification and quantification of upper airway disease in horses.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether upper airway sounds of horses exercising with laryngeal hemiplegia and alar fold paralysis have distinct sound characteristics, compared with unaffected horses. ANIMALS: 6 mature horses. PROCEDURE: Upper airway sounds were recorded in horses exercising on a high-speed treadmill at maximum heart rate (HR(MAX)) under 3 treatment conditions (ie, normal upper airway function [control condition], and after induction of left laryngeal hemiplegia or bilateral alar fold paralysis) in a randomized crossover design. Fundamental frequency, spectrograms using Gabor transform, and intensity characteristics of acquired sounds (peak sound level [sound(peak] and highest frequency of at least -25 dB sound intensity [F(25max)]) were evaluated. RESULTS: Evaluation of the fundamental frequency of the time domain signal was not useful. Sensitivity and specificity (83 and 75%, respectively) of spectrograms were greatest at maximal exercise, but the exact abnormal condition was identified in evaluation of only 12 of 18 spectrograms. Increased accuracy was obtained using sound(peak) and F(25max) as discriminating variables. The use of sound(peak) discriminated between control and laryngeal hemiplegia conditions and F(25max) between laryngeal hemiplegia and alar fold paralysis conditions. This increased the specificity of sound analysis to 92% (sensitivity 83%) and accurately classified the abnormal state in 92% of affected horses. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Sound analysis might be a useful adjunct to the diagnosis and evaluation of treatment of horses with upper airway obstruction, but would appear to require close attention to exercise intensity. Multiple measurements of recorded sounds might be needed to obtain sufficient accuracy for clinical use.