Crossed renal ectopia with fusion in a cat.

In humans, crossed renal ectopia is a rare, usually asymptomatic, congenital malpositioning of the kidneys, involving wandering of one or both embryonic kidneys across the midline and usually fusion with its contralateral partner. This is the first report of crossed renal ectopia in the cat. A 7-year-old, neutered male cat was presented with polyuria, polydipsia, and a palpable abdominal mass. Diagnostic investigations, including clinical pathology, survey and contrast radiography, and ultrasonography, confirmed the presence of an ectopic left kidney fused with an orthotopic right kidney, with concurrent renal failure and hypertension. Many features of crossed renal ectopia in this cat are similar to those described in humans, however the vascular supply, the presence of renal failure, and the axial rotation of the fused kidney are atypical.

Effect of enalapril in dogs with pacing-induced heart failure.

A repeated-measures study was conducted on 5 dogs to clinically, radiographically, and echocardiographically characterize the actions of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, enalapril, before and after development of experimentally induced heart failure. Heart failure was artificially induced, using a surgically implanted programmable ventricular pacemaker, which stimulated the heart at a rate of 245 beats/min until a low-output cardiomyopathic state developed. This condition was then stabilized by decreasing the pacing rate to 190 beats/min. Pacing-induced heart failure was successfully induced in a mean +/- SD 4.2 +/- 1.95 weeks. The condition closely resembled the clinical, radiographic, and echocardiographic features of naturally acquired idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs. Enalapril was well tolerated by dogs, and clinical adverse reactions did not develop. Results of echocardiographic studies indicated that enalapril treatment during the control period resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) increase in velocity of circumferential fiber shortening and a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in left ventricular ejection time. Therapeutic responses to enalapril were evident after development of heart failure. These included reduced severity of clinical signs of disease, evidence of decreased radiographically determined cardiac size (2 of 5 dogs), radiographic evidence of a reduction in pulmonary edema and congestion (4 of 5 dogs), significant (P < 0.05) reductions in left atrial and ventricular chamber dimensions (left atrial dimension, diastolic left ventricular internal dimension as determined echocardiographically), and improvement in some echocardiographic indices of left ventricular performance (velocity of circumferential fiber shortening and left ventricular ejection time).