Assessment of the likelihood of hypothyroidism in dogs diagnosed with and treated for hypothyroidism at primary care practices: 102 cases (2016-2021).

BACKGROUND: There is a possibility that an incorrect diagnosis of hypothyroidism could be made in euthyroid dogs, and the prevalence of hypothyroidism in the dog population remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively assess the percentage of dogs diagnosed with, and treated for, hypothyroidism at first opinion practice which are likely to be hypothyroid and require levothyroxine supplementation. ANIMALS: One hundred two client-owned dogs were included in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The computerized databases of 7 first opinion practices were searched to identify dogs treated with levothyroxine supplementation. Three European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine-Companian Animals (ECVIM-CA) diplomates independently assigned 1 of 4 clinical assessments to each case as follows: confirmed or likely hypothyroid, hypothyroidism suspected but not confirmed, hypothyroidism considered unlikely, and no reason to suspect hypothyroidism. They commented as to whether or not they thought levothyroxine supplementation was appropriate. RESULTS: The clinical assessments of "confirmed or likely hypothyroid"; "Hypothyroidism suspected but not confirmed"; "Hypothyroidism considered unlikely"; and "No reason to suspect hypothyroidism" was assigned respectively by Clinician 1 to 38.2%, 5.9%, 3.9%, and 52% of cases, by Clinician 2 to 48%, 22.6%, 22.6%, 6.9% of cases, and by Clinician 3 to 55.9%, 11.8%, 13.7% and 18.6%. Clinician 1, Clinician 2, and Clinician 3 considered levothyroxine supplementation not indicated in 58.8%, 52.9%, and 45.1% of cases, respectively. CONCLUSION: These results support the concern that hypothyroidism might be overly and incorrectly diagnosed in first opinion practice, and that thyroid function testing should be performed only in those dogs with a high pretest probability of the disease.

Bronchial collapse and bronchial stenting in 9 dogs.

BACKGROUND: Principal and lobar bronchial collapse is increasingly recognized as an isolated entity. OBJECTIVE: Retrospectively describe the procedure and outcomes of dogs undergoing bronchial stenting at a single referral hospital. ANIMALS: Nine client-owned dogs with variable degrees of collapse of the left principal bronchus (LPB), lobar bronchus 1 (LB1), and lobar bronchus 2 (LB2), and with clinically relevant signs of respiratory dysfunction. METHODS: Data were collected from patient records. All dogs underwent stenting of the LPB and LB2. Anatomic and functional impairment grades were assigned to each case before and 4 weeks after stenting. Data regarding response to stenting and complications were evaluated. RESULTS: Bronchial stenting was considered successful in all cases, with all dogs experiencing improved quality of life (QOL), and decreased functional impairment grade at 4 weeks post-stenting. Follow-up of >6 months was available for 6 dogs and of these, 5 were alive at 12 months, 3 were alive at 18 months, and 1 was alive at 24 months. Stent-related complications occurred in 4 dogs, and were resolvable in 3. Two dogs developed pneumothorax, 1 developed recurrent pneumonia, and 1 developed new-onset coughing. All dogs had mild and manageable coughing post-stenting. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Stenting of the LBP and LB2 might be an effective option for dogs with advanced collapse of these bronchi and associated signs. Although all included dogs had resolution or improvement of clinical signs considered life-threatening or as affecting QOL, ongoing coughing is expected. Patient selection appears important with regard to achieving successful outcomes.

Canine thyroid carcinoma prognosis following the utilisation of computed tomography assisted staging.

BACKGROUND: Metastatic disease is frequently present at the time of diagnosis of canine thyroid carcinoma; however, utilisation of computed tomography (CT) alone for staging pre-treatment has been rarely reported in the veterinary literature. METHODS: The aims of this retrospective study were to stage affected dogs using CT findings of the cervical and thoracic regions, combined with histopathology/cytology results, in order to assess whether metastatic disease/WHO staging was of prognostic significance. RESULTS: Fifty-eight dogs were included in the study. Classification of cases into WHO stages I, II, III and IV were 10%, 50%, 9% and 31%, respectively. No statistically significant effect of WHO stage classification on overall survival/follow-up time was found (P = .576). Surgery resulted in a statistically significant increase in overall survival/follow-up time (P < .01). There was no statistically significant effect on overall survival/follow-up time in dogs that received medical therapy, either as sole therapy or as an adjunctive post-surgery (P = .198). CONCLUSION: In summary, this study documents the metastatic rate of canine thyroid carcinoma using CT for staging pre-treatment. Staging utilising CT revealed a higher distant metastatic rate in dogs with thyroid carcinoma when compared to historical studies using different imaging techniques. As long-term outcomes are possible for cases with advanced disease, surgical intervention could still be considered.

Neural differences in the temporal cascade of reactive and proactive control for bilinguals and monolinguals.

This study explored differences in sustained top-down attentional control (i.e., proactive control) and spontaneous types of control (i.e., reactive control) in bilingual and monolingual speakers. We modified a Color-Word Stroop task to varying levels of conflict and included switching trials in addition to more "traditional" inhibition Stroop conditions. The task was administered during scalp electroencephalography (EEG) to evaluate the temporal course of cognitive control during trials. The behavioral Stroop effect was observed across the whole sample; however, there were no differences in accuracy or response time between the bilingual and monolingual groups. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were calculated for the N200, N450, and conflict Sustained Potential (SP). On the pure-blocked incongruent trials, the bilingual group displayed reduced signal during interference suppression (N450) and increased later signal, as indexed by the conflict SP. On the mixed-block incongruent trials, both the bilinguals and monolinguals displayed increased later signal at the conflict SP. This suggests that proactive control may be a default mode for bilinguals on tasks requiring inhibition. In the switching trials, that place high demands on the executive control component of shifting, the language groups did not differ. Overall, these results suggest processing differences between bilinguals and monolinguals extend beyond early response inhibition processes. Greater integration of proactive and reactive control may be needed to sort conflicting language environments for bilinguals, which may be transferring to domain-general mechanisms.

Eltrombopag treatment of a dog with idiopathic aplastic pancytopenia.

Idiopathic aplastic pancytopenia is an uncommon disease in dogs which results in pancytopenia and for which an immune-mediated etiology is suspected. A small number of affected dogs reported in the veterinary literature have responded to immunosuppressive medication but the prognosis generally is considered poor with a reported mortality rate of 80%. Reported response rates to immunosuppression alone in affected people are low with overall and complete responses of 65 and 10%, respectively. With the addition of eltrombopag, an orally available thrombopoietin receptor agonist, reported overall and complete response rates in people increase to 94 and 58%, respectively. Herein, we report the use of eltrombopag in a dog with idiopathic aplastic pancytopenia. Eltrombopag was started after no response was seen to treatment with prednisolone and cyclosporine. Complete remission was achieved after the addition of eltrombopag and was sustained after stopping the medication.

Gallbladder Agenesis in a Dog: Clinicopathological, Histopathology, and Computed Tomography Findings.

Three cases of gallbladder agenesis (GA) have been previously reported in the English-speaking veterinary literature. Affected dogs can be either asymptomatic or symptomatic with vomiting, retching, and anorexia previously reported. The previously reported cases and the dog in this report had marked elevations in alanine aminotransferase concentrations, and liver histopathology consistently showed bridging fibrosis and biliary hyperplasia. The condition is most often diagnosed in humans during exploratory surgery, which was also the case in the previous three dogs reported with GA. Computed tomography (CT) or MRI is now recommended for diagnosis of the condition in humans, and this is the first report of CT findings in an affected dog diagnosed without surgery. Bile stasis and cholangiohepatits have been proposed as secondary pathologies in both humans and dogs with GA, and histopathology and CT findings in this case support those theories.

Comparison of axillary, tympanic membrane and rectal temperature measurement in cats.

OBJECTIVES: Rectal temperature (RT) is routinely used to assess body temperature in cats but has limitations and can be poorly tolerated. Axillary temperature (AT) and tympanic membrane temperature (TMT) are reported alternatives. This study aimed to determine the differences between RT and AT, and between RT and TMT in cats. Additional aims were to examine the effect of environmental and patient factors on these differences and to assess patient tolerance to each technique. METHODS: AT, TMT and RT were measured in immediate succession. Measurement order was randomised, as was the choice of left or right axilla and tympanic membrane. A digital thermometer and a veterinary infrared ear thermometer were used. The subjective tolerance of each procedure was recorded. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty cats were included. Significantly more conscious cats were tolerant of AT (90.6%) than TMT (81.2%) and RT (53.0%). The rectal-axillary temperature difference ranged from -1.2°C to 1.4°C (median 0.1°C) and was within ± 0.5°C in 78.0% of cats. On multivariable analysis the difference was larger in overweight cats, neutered cats, cats in which the right axilla was used and as the RT increased. The rectal-tympanic membrane temperature difference ranged from -1.6°C to 3°C (median -0.3°C) and was within ± 0.5°C in 51.3% of cats, significantly fewer than for AT (P <0.001). The rectal-tympanic membrane temperature difference increased as the RT increased. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: TMT and AT should not be used interchangeably with RT in cats. When RT measurement is not possible, AT is recommended over TMT as it is better tolerated and significantly fewer cats had clinically unacceptable differences (>0.5°C). AT may more closely reflect RT in normal or underweight cats than it does in overweight cats.