Diseases of captive yellow seahorse Hippocampus kuda Bleeker, pot-bellied seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis Lesson and weedy seadragon Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (Lacépède).

Seahorses, pipefish and seadragons are fish of the Family Syngnathidae. From 1998 to 2010, 172 syngnathid cases from the Toronto Zoo were submitted for post-mortem diagnostics and retrospectively examined. Among the submitted species were yellow seahorses Hippocampus kuda Bleeker (n=133), pot-bellied seahorses Hippocampus abdominalis Lesson (n=35) and weedy seadragons Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (Lacépède; n=4). The three most common causes of morbidity and mortality in this population were bacterial dermatitis, bilaterally symmetrical myopathy and mycobacteriosis, accounting for 24%, 17% and 15% of cases, respectively. Inflammatory processes were the most common diagnoses, present in 117 cases. Seven neoplasms were diagnosed, environmental aetiologies were identified in 46 cases, and two congenital defects were identified.

Deep fungal dermatitis caused by the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii in captive coastal bearded dragons (Pogona barbata).

Deep fungal dermatitis caused by the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV) was diagnosed in a group of coastal bearded dragons (Pogona barbata). The outbreak extended over a 6-month period, with four of six lizards from the same zoological outdoor enclosure succumbing to infection. A fifth case of dermatomycosis was identified in a pet lizard originally sourced from the wild. Diagnosis of infection with the CANV was based on similar clinical signs and histopathology in all animals and confirmed by culture and sequencing of the fungus from one animal. This is the first report of the CANV causing disease in a terrestrial reptile species in Australia and the first in the coastal bearded dragon.

Observations on pigeon circovirus infection in Ontario.

Subclinical pigeon circovirus infection was diagnosed in 1-day-old to 6-week-old birds from a loft with no history of clinical disease. Pigeons from other lofts presented with various illnesses and were found at necropsy to be concurrently infected with pigeon circovirus.

Humoral response and protection from experimental challenge following vaccination of raccoon pups with a modified-live canine distemper virus vaccine.

Eight 8-wk-old raccoon pups (Procyon lotor) with maternal canine distemper virus (CDV) neutralizing antibodies (NAb) and 24 8-wk-old seronegative pups were administered a commercial modified-live CDV vaccine (Galaxy, D, Solvay Animal Health, Inc., Kitchener, Ontario, Canada). All 24 seronegative raccoons had detectable serum CDV NAb titers 14 days after the initial dose. Titers rose to maximum levels 4 wk post-vaccination. Mean titers for groups of vaccinated seronegative pups were maintained between 1:256 and 1:2,048 for the remainder of the 3 mo observation period. Geometric means of the serum CDV NAb titer of eight seronegative pups given a single vaccine dose at 8 wk of age did not differ significantly from those of eight pups that were given serial doses at 8, 12, and 16 wk of age, or from those of eight pups vaccinated once at 16 wk of age. Seven unvaccinated 8-wk-old raccoon pups used as controls remained seronegative throughout the trial. Seven out of eight 8-wk-old pups with maternal antibodies, vaccinated at 8, 12, and 16 wk of age, failed to develop a rise in their CDV NAb titers until at least 18 wk of age, 2 wk after the third vaccination. Titers in eight unvaccinated raccoons with maternal antibodies declined steadily to undetectable levels at 20 wk of age. A half-life of 10.55 days was calculated for maternally-derived CDV NAb in raccoon pups. Sixteen vaccinated raccoons were protected from clinical disease following experimental oronasal challenge with a virulent raccoon strain of CDV, 13 to 23 wk after vaccination. Serum CDV NAb titers at the time of challenge ranged from 1:12 to 1:384 and increased during the period of observation. Three of four unvaccinated seronegative raccoons used as controls failed to mount any detectable CDV NAb and were euthanatized after developing clinical signs of canine distemper 26, 29, and 30 days post-challenge (PC). Necropsies confirmed the diagnosis. The fourth control raccoon exhibited transient equivocal clinical signs, mounted a sluggish humoral response, but was clinically normal when euthanatized 42 days PC. In this raccoon, there was focal non-suppurative encephalitis with intranuclear inclusion bodies typical of CDV infection.

Cutaneous mycoses in chameleons caused by the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (Apinis) Currah.

A dermatophyte-like fungus was isolated from skin biopsies of three different species of captive chameleon in which fungal elements had been observed by histologic examination. An adult Parson's chameleon (Chamaeleo parsonii) presented with vesicles that became crusty brown lesions on the limbs and body. Skin biopsies revealed fungal hyphae in the affected epidermis and underlying dermis. The lesions regressed fully after oral administration of itraconazole. An adult jewel chameleon (Chamaeleo lateralis) from the same private collection presented with localized black skin lesions and died while being treated with itraconazole. A pulmonary granuloma was also present in this chameleon at autopsy. Cultures obtained from skin and lung lesions yielded the same fungus. A third isolate was obtained from a skin biopsy of a Jackson's chameleon (Chamaeleo jacksoni) with deep ulcerative cutaneous lesions located at the base of the tail. The fungus, in all three cases, has been identified as the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii, a poorly known ascomycetous species recorded previously from the skin of a lizard and from soil, on the basis of its keratinolytic activity, resistance to cycloheximide, strongly restricted growth at 37 degrees C, formation of clavate or pyriform single-celled or two-celled aleurioconidia, and alternate and fission arthroconidia.

Diagnóstico de las enfermedades del tórax / Diagnosis of disease of the chest

El tórax normal. Métodos de investigación radiológica y patológica. Métodos de investigación clínica, de laboratorio y funcional. Signos radiológicos en el diagnóstico de enfermedades torácicas

Diagnóstico de las enfermedades del tórax / Diagnosis of diseses of the chest

Enfermedades embólicas y trombóticas de los pulmones. Hipertensión y edema de pulmón. Enfermedades de las vías áereas. Enfermedades pleuropulmonares causadas por la inhalación de polvo inorgánico. Enfermedades pulmonares causadas por aspiración de cuerpos extraños

Diagnóstico de las enfermedades del tórax / Diagnosis of diseses of the chest

Enfermedades embólicas y trombóticas de los pulmones. Hipertensión y edema de pulmón. Enfermedades de las vías áereas. Enfermedades pleuropulmonares causadas por la inhalación de polvo inorgánico. Enfermedades pulmonares causadas por aspiración de cuerpos extraños

Diagnóstico de las enfermedades del tórax / Diagnosis of diseses of the chest

Anormalidades pulmonares originadas en el desarrollo. Enfermedades infecciosas de los pulmones. Enfermedades por alteraciones de la actividad inmunológica. Enfermedad neoplásica de los pulmones

Diagnóstico de las enfermedades del tórax / Diagnosis of disease of the chest

El tórax normal. Métodos de investigación radiológica y patológica. Métodos de investigación clínica, de laboratorio y funcional. Signos radiológicos en el diagnóstico de enfermedades torácicas

Mapping a gene for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to chromosome 14q1.

To identify the chromosomal location of a gene responsible for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, we used clinical and molecular genetic techniques to evaluate the members of a large kindred. Twenty surviving and 24 deceased family members had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; 58 surviving members were unaffected. Genetic-linkage analyses were performed with polymorphic DNA loci dispersed throughout the entire genome, to identify a locus that was inherited with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in family members. The significance of the linkage detected between the disease locus and polymorphic loci was assessed by calculating a lod score (the logarithm of the probability of observing coinheritance of two loci, assuming that they are genetically linked, divided by the probability of detecting coinheritance if they are unlinked). A DNA locus (D14S26), previously mapped to chromosome 14 and of unknown function, was found to be coinherited with the disease in this family. No instances of recombination were observed between the locus for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and D14S26, yielding a lod score of +9.37 (theta = 0). These data indicate that in this kindred, the odds are greater than 2,000,000,000:1 that the gene responsible for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is located on chromosome 14 (band q1).

Surgical treatment of lung cancer: promise and problems of early diagnosis.

Recent studies have shown that the survival of patients with lung cancer is improved if the tumour is resected before it becomes larger than 3 cm in diameter and before it spreads to lymph nodes. While this suggests a positive benefit from early detection, recent mass-screening studies have claimed that the benefit obtained from this procedure is illusory because it relates to a lead-time bias. This study reports the results of surgical resection of 143 primary lung cancers. The data confirmed that the predicted 5-year survival was greatest (74%) following resection of lesions that were less than 3 cm in diameter without node involvement. Analysis showed that the age of these patients was 63 +/- 8 years, the same as in patients with larger tumours and more extensive node involvement. This suggests that tumours progress rapidly from a stage at which resection is beneficial to stages at which it is not. Although it is desirable that tests predict the presence of small tumours, the high requirements for sensitivity and specificity at current prevalence rates for lung cancer make this goal impractical.

Radiographic differences between two subtypes of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma.

Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma has two light-microscopic, morphologic types, the alveolar type which has cuboidal cells resembling Type II pneumocytes, and the bronchiolar type in which these cells are of the tall columnar variety. To determine if these two different cellular patterns are associated with different clinical or radiologic patterns of disease, we compared the anthropometric, demographic and past medical history, the presenting symptoms, signs, radiographic changes and survival of patients with these two diseases. Clinical records, chest radiographs and pathologic specimens were reviewed by individuals blinded to the hypothesis. Of 30 patients reviewed, we found only one purely alveolar pattern, one predominantly alveolar, 13 mixed, 12 predominantly bronchiolar, and three purely bronchiolar. For analysis we combined the alveolar and the mixed groups and compared them to the purely and predominantly bronchiolar groups. Anthropometric and historical data were similar. The radiographs were different; the most striking difference was the presence of air bronchograms only in the bronchiolar group (p less than 0.0001). Of those who had previous chest films, 80% in the alveolar-mixed group were abnormal, whereas none of those in the bronchiolar group were (p = 0.02). All the initial films in the bronchiolar group had a lesion with definable borders, whereas only two-thirds of the mixed alveolar group did (p = 0.02). Some of the radiographic changes of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma depend on the histologic subtype.

Correlation of regional breath sound with regional ventilation in emphysema.

We measured regional breath sound intensities (Ib) by a microphone amplifier system in 8 subjects with emphysema. We also measured regional white noise transmissions (Tn) from the same areas in all subjects. The recorded areas were 5, 10, 15, and 20 cm from the apex of the lung just lateral to the right anterior midclavicular line. Xenon ventilation indexes (xenon tidal raw counts, an index of total regional ventilation; xenon equilibration raw counts, an index of ventilating lung volume; xenon ventilation per unit volume (Vr), an index of ventilation per unit volume) were also recorded from the same areas. The Ib, Tn, Ib/Tn (an index of sound generation), and xenon ventilation indexes were all expressed as a fraction of the mean value of all four recorded areas. The Ib and Ib/Tn correlated best with the xenon tidal raw counts, correlated well with the xenon equilibration raw counts, and correlated poorly with Vr. We conclude that Ib and Ib/Tn can be used to quantify regional ventilation in subjects with emphysema.

Differentiating bronchioloalveolar carcinoma from adenocarcinoma.

The recognition of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) as distinct from adenocarcinoma of the lung, is controversial. Using strict pathologic criteria, 43 consecutive patients with BAC were matched by year of diagnosis and compared with a similar number of patients with adenocarcinoma, and for contrast, with those with squamous and oat cell carcinoma of the lung. We demonstrated that BAC is not sex related, and is not as smoking related as the other neoplasms. Unlike epidermoid carcinoma, BAC does not show a predilection for those occupations requiring manual labor. Also, BAC is frequently distinguishable radiologically from the other three by being smaller and peripheral. A pleural tag and an air bronchogram in a mass are rather specific, and BAC is less likely to have large airway involvement and adenopathy. The percentage of patients who were free of tumor after 2 yr was greater in the BAC group than in the others, but the overall survival rate between the BAC group and the adenocarcinoma group was not. Based on inter-observer variability, there is some overlap pathologically between these 2 groups. However, when the overlap between the adenocarcinoma and the BAC groups is compared with that between the adenocarcinoma and the squamous cell carcinoma groups, the difference is not significant. We conclude that BAC should be considered a distinct clinical entity.

Lung sounds in patients with emphysema.

We recorded an index of breath sound intensity (Ib) and the transmission of white noise (Tn) over four lung regions between apex and base in eight subjects with emphysema. The Ib and Tn were recorded over the whole range of lung volume from residual volume to total lung capacity. Each value was expressed as a fraction of the value recorded over the apical region with the help of an analog divider. The ratio of Ib to Tn was computed to correct for differences in Ib due to differences in transmission of sound. The ratio of Ib and Tn was computed to correct for differences in Ib due to differences in transmission of sound. The ratio of Ib to Tn was also expressed as a fraction of the value recorded over the apex. Both Ib and Tn had definite patterns in subjects with emphysema but varied considerably from breath to breath. The Ib and Tn were more reproducible in normal subjects. The magnitude and the sequence of Ib, Tn, and Ib/Tn were also different in subjects with emphysema and normal subjects. The ratio of Ib to Tn is an index of sound production in both normal subjects and subjects with emphysema. We conclude that both production and transmission of breath sounds vary from breath to breath in patients with emphysema. There are areas of both increased and decreased production and transmission of sound. If regional breath sound production (Ib/Tn) is related to regional ventilation in persons with emphysema as in normal subjects, these findings further suggest that regional ventilation varies from breath to breath and is also altered drastically from the normal pattern, leading to a severe ventilation and perfusion inequality so characteristic of emphysematous lungs.