Portal hypertension in a dog due to circumscribed fibrosis of the wall of the extrahepatic portal vein.

A two-and-a-half-year-old German shepherd dog with ascites and a high concentration of blood ammonia was investigated. Sonographically, its liver was normal but the portal vein was dilated and the flow of blood within it was slow. A liver biopsy showed that the liver was normal, and did not reveal any possible cause of portal hypertension or ascites. Postmortem, the cranial part of the portal vein was dilated with a cross-striped internal surface, but the caudal part looked normal; there was a stenotic ring between the normal and dilated parts. Histology of the dilated segment revealed marked hypertrophy of both the internal circular and the external longitudinal smooth muscle layers. At the site of the stenosis, the longitudinal muscular layer was replaced by connective tissue. Circumscribed fibrosis in the wall of the portal vein was responsible for the stenosis and the subsequent prehepatic portal hypertension. The cross-striped pattern in the dilated part of the vein was the result of hypertrophy of the inner circular smooth muscle layer.

ECG-gated dynamic magnetic resonance imaging method for examination of the pig heart.

A dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method was developed for in vivo examination of the pig heart. Measurements were carried out on 15 meat-type pigs of different liveweight using a 1.5 T equipment. Inhalation anaesthesia was applied, then data acquisition was synchronised by ECG gating. Depending on the heart rate and heart size, in each case 8 to 10 slices and in each slice 8 to 14 phases were acquired prospectively according to one heart cycle. During the post-processing of the images the left and the right ventricular volumes were determined. The values measured at 106 kg liveweight are 2.5 times higher than those obtained at 22 kg, while the ejection fractions are equal. The calculated cardiac output values were 3.5 l (22 kg, 132 beats/min.), and 6.0 l (106 kg, 91 beats/min.), respectively. After measuring the wall thickness, the contraction values were also determined for the septum (70%), and for the anterior (61%), posterior (41%) and lateral (54%) walls of the left ventricle. Three-dimensional animated models of the ventricles were constructed. Based on the investigations performed, the preconditioning, the anaesthetic procedure, the specific details of ECG measurement and the correct MR imaging technique were worked out.

Doppler-ultrasonographic detection of retrograde pulsatile flow in the caudal vena cava of a puppy with cor triatriatum dexter.

A three-month-old puppy had ascites, but its heart was normal by auscultation. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed an enlarged liver, distended hepatic veins and a distended caudal vena cava. Doppler ultrasonography detected retrograde flow in the caudal vena cava and abnormally pulsatile flow in the hepatic veins and caudal vena cava. A non-selective venogram was used to detect the path of the blood from the caudal vena cava. A postmortem examination showed that the puppy had cor triatriatum dexter and a defect in the atrial septum.

Sonographic diagnosis of intestinal obstruction in the dog.

Ultrasonography was performed on 44 dogs to decide whether small bowel obstruction was present. The sonographic criteria for small bowel obstruction were (1) the presence of pendulous movement of the ingesta inside the dilated bowel, (2) observation of invaginated intestines or an ingested intraluminal foreign body, (3) observation of non-uniform peristaltic activity of the dilated intestines, or (4) observation of akinetic intestinal loops together with abdominal fluid accumulation. By using these criteria, obstruction was correctly diagnosed by ultrasonography in 11 of the 13 dogs with mechanical ileus, and obstruction was correctly excluded in 29 of the 31 non-obstructive cases. Thus, the above-mentioned sonographic criteria had 85% sensitivity and positive predictive value, and 94% specificity and negative predictive value. The present study suggests that ultrasonography is a valuable tool for diagnosing small intestinal obstruction in the dog.

Ultrasonographic study of feline lower urinary tract diseases: 32 cases.

The objective of the study was to describe the ultrasonographic findings of urinary bladder urolithiasis and to determine the diagnostic value of the technique in feline lower urinary tract diseases (LUTD). Physical examination of the urinary system and routine clinicopathological analysis of the blood and urine were performed on 32 cats presented with clinical symptoms of LUTD. Cystosonography was done on all of the cats, while plain radiography was performed on 8 and double contrast cystography on 2 cats. Sonography of the bladder provided the following diagnoses: urolithiasis and chronic cystitis: 24 cases, chronic cystitis without urolithiasis: 4 cases, bladder neoplasm: 1 case, negative sonographic finding: 3 cases. Bladder calculi and/or plugs were diagnosed easily, up to a size of 2 mm, according to acoustic shadowing and/or reverberation and gravitation. When the bladder was empty, it was filled up with physiologic saline solution to visualise its contents more easily. Sonography proved to be a useful technique for diagnosing urinary bladder calculi and/or plugs even when they were radiolucent and for distinguishing among the different causes of LUTD. Although ultrasonography is a valuable diagnostic tool, radiography is still necessary to explore lower urinary tract diseases, especially when cystosonography provides negative results or urethral obstruction is suspected.

[The effect of lesser curve seromyotomy of the stomach in animal experiments]. / A gyomron végzett kisgörbületi seromyotomia hatásának vizsgálata állatkísérletekben.

The authors investigated the efficiency of the seromyotomy of the lesser curvature of the stomach in 11 dogs. Reduction of the acid production was verified by glass electrode pH measuring of the gastric mucosa. Scintigraphic examination showed that the operation did not damage the motor function (motility) of the stomach. The fact of peripheral vagotomy was established by histological examination: degeneration of nerve fibres was detected on the peripheral side of the line of the seromyotomy, vacuolar degeneration was found in the cells of parasympathetic ganglions, and amputation neurinomas were shown in the line of the seromyotomy.