ABSTRACT
Pelvis size plays an important role to prevent dystocia in cattle caused by the foeto-maternal disproportion in commonly primiparous females. The reproducibility and repeatability are two important aspects for the reliability of the measurements to use in the selection of cattle for culling. Pelvic measures were taken with a Rice pelvimeter from 224 young cattle (180 females and 44 males) of four beef breeds in South Africa. One experienced and two inexperienced observers each measured pelvic height and width twice. The proportion measurements with a maximum difference of 0.5 cm within animal compared with the first measurement by the experienced observer are around 80% and by the inexperienced observers around 50% for pelvic height and around 60% for pelvic width. Breed and sex do not affect the reliability of pelvimetry by an experienced observer. Under- and overestimation of pelvis size were observed in inexperienced observers, which seems to be unrelated to breed and sex.
Subject(s)
Observer Variation , Pelvimetry/veterinary , Animals , Cattle , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Pelvimetry/methods , Pelvis/anatomy & histology , Reproducibility of Results , Species SpecificityABSTRACT
Continuous fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring using transabdominal Doppler ultrasonography can be assumed to provide information about the viability of the bovine fetus during late gestation, as has been found in humans. To be able to recognize unfavourable fetal conditions, first the normal ranges of FHR parameters in cattle should be established. Therefore, in this study we aimed to determine the normal ranges of computerized FHR parameters, like basal fetal heart rate (BHR), number of accelerations and decelerations per hour and short and long term variation (STV and LTV) during the last 3 weeks before calving (n = 21 cows). Each cow had one recording in each of three episodes of 7 days before parturition. As recording time in the cow is limited, we also studied whether these FHR parameters differ between recordings of 30 and 60 min duration (n = 31 pairs of recordings). The outcomes of FHR recordings with a duration of 30 or 60 min did not differ significantly, except for a higher percentage of signal loss in the 60 min recordings. Therefore, determination of normal ranges was performed in 30 min recordings. BHR decreased from 3 to 2 weeks (114 to 109 bpm; P < 0.0001) before parturition and then remained constant until 2 days before calving. The mean number of accelerations per hour ranged between 4.4 and 5.0 h(-1) and did not change significantly with time. Compared to 3 weeks before parturition, STV was significantly higher at 2 weeks (P < 0.05), but not at 1 week before parturition (8.1, 10.0, and 9.2 ms, respectively). Changes in LTV showed a time course comparable to that of STV, but significance was not reached (51.4, 58.6, and 58.4 ms for respectively 3, 2 and 1 weeks before parturition). No decelerations were found during the period understudy. In conclusion, this study has provided normal ranges of bovine computerized FHR parameters during the last 3 weeks of gestation, allowing a comparison with data from cows with compromised gestations in future.
Subject(s)
Cattle/physiology , Heart Rate, Fetal/physiology , Ultrasonography, Prenatal/veterinary , Animals , Female , Gestational Age , Pregnancy , Reference Standards , Reference Values , Ultrasonography, Doppler/methods , Ultrasonography, Doppler/veterinary , Ultrasonography, Prenatal/methodsABSTRACT
Both an increased rate of embryonic, foetal and perinatal losses, and the occurrence of deviations in foetal and placental development are associated with bovine pregnancies obtained from in vitro produced embryos. This thus requires for a more accurate and frequent monitoring of foetal and maternal functions during pregnancies. Such approaches will enable to establish the period during which these losses and deviations in development occur and to plan possible clinical interventions. This paper reviews some recent data on return rates, late embryonic and foetal losses in recipients after the transfer of either MOET, IVF or nuclear transfer embryos. Special attention is paid to the diagnostic value of measurements of pregnancy specific/associated proteins and progesterone in maternal plasma. Possibilities to measure foetal body sizes, size of placentomes and foetal heart rate by means of transrectal or transabdominal ultrasonography are illustrated with data from the literature and with recent results from our own large field study with MOET, IVP-co-culture and IVP-SOF embryos.
