CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE ASSOCIATED WITH PREGNANCY IN OKAPI (OKAPIA JOHNSTONI).

Acute signs associated with cardiovascular disease occurred in three pregnant okapi ( Okapia johnstoni ) during early to midgestation and progressed to congestive heart failure. Congestive heart failure was diagnosed antemortem using echocardiography and plasma cardiac troponin levels. Clinical signs included decreased activity, hyporexia, tachypnea, dyspnea, flared nostrils, and productive coughing with copious amounts of foamy nasal discharge. Parenteral and oral treatment with furosemide, enalapril, and spironolactone controlled clinical signs in the three okapi allowing each to carry out one pregnancy to term. Two okapi carried the first pregnancy to term after showing signs, while one okapi aborted the first calf and gave birth to a healthy calf in a subsequent pregnancy. Subsequent pregnancy in one okapi ended with abortion and associated dystocia and endometritis. Following parturition, clinical signs associated with heart failure resolved in all three individuals; serial echocardiography in two individuals showed improvement in fractional shortening and left atrial size and all three okapi showed markedly decreased pleural effusion and resolution of pulmonary edema. However, subsequent pregnancies in all three okapi induced respiratory distress and recurrence of congestive heart failure; one okapi died from congestive heart failure associated with subsequent pregnancy. This case series describes the clinical presentation and pathologic findings of congestive heart failure during pregnancy in adult okapi.

Echocardiographic and Doppler assessment of maternal cardiovascular function in normal and abnormal canine pregnancies.

The objective was to verify maternal hemodynamic differences between normal and abnormal pregnancies in dogs. Brucella-negative pregnant bitches (n = 31) were retrospectively classified into abnormal (which had either their pregnancy interrupted between Days 52 and 60 or perinatal death of more than 50% of the litter; n = 14) and normal (which had delivered healthy puppies at term; n = 17). These dogs were evaluated with echocardiography every 10 days from Days 0 to 60 of gestation (Day 0 = estimated day of LH peak). Systolic blood pressure was also assessed. At Day 50 of gestation, left ventricular free wall in systole increased in the normal but not in the abnormal group (P < 0.01). In contrast, end systolic stress (P < 0.01) and systolic blood pressure (P < 0.01) diminished only in normal animals. We concluded that signs of altered maternal cardiovascular adaptation to pregnancy may be predictors of obstetrical complications in dogs.

Pregnancy-associated congestive heart failure in a cat.

A 4-year-old, late-term pregnant Himalayan queen was diagnosed with biventricular congestive heart failure characterized by pleural effusion and pulmonary edema. A cesarean section was performed, resulting in the birth of four live kittens, with one surviving to discharge. Congestive heart failure resolved rapidly following surgery. The queen remained asymptomatic for 9 years postoperatively. Volume expansion secondary to pregnancy was thought to result in cardiovascular volume overload and subsequent congestive heart failure.

Vegetative endocarditis in a scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah).

Streptococcus uberis was cultured from vegetative endocarditis lesions in a scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah) from the Parc de la Haute Touche, France. This is the first reported single isolation of S. uberis from an oryx with vegetative endocarditis leading to fatal congestive heart failure.

Pulmonary hypertension and cardiac insufficiency in three cows with primary lung disease.

Increased pulmonary arterial pressures as a result of pulmonary disease are described in two cows with chronic pneumonia and one cow with acute pneumonia. Based on clinical signs of congestive right heart failure, increased pulmonary arterial pressure, and right ventricular hypertrophy, cor pulmonale was diagnosed in one cow. Two cows had increased pulmonary arterial pressure and signs of right heart insufficiency, but right ventricular hypertrophy was not identified. Two of the cows had ventral edema and exercise intolerance. All cows had jugular venous distention and increased right atrial and pulmonary arterial pressures. Peripheral arterial PaO2 was decreased in two cows, and not measured in the third cow. Although an uncommon cause of congestive heart failure in cattle at low altitudes, pulmonary hypertension should be considered in cattle with clinical right heart failure.

[Myocardial fibrosis of cattle in Hesse]. / Myokardfibrose bei Rindern in Hessen.

Between 1986 and 1989 there were 9 cases of idiopathic congestive heart failure at this clinic. Normally heifers in the last 1/3 of pregnancy and young cows aged between 2.5 and 3.5 years were affected, but the disease also occurred in one younger (1.5 years), one older (6 years) and in one male animal. In contrast to other reports, myocardial fibrosis in the State of Hesse was only seen in the Rotbunte breed. The animals suffered from a severe heart failure with venous congestion and congestive edema of the brisket, the submandibular area and the ventral abdomen. In most cases there is no precise difference in history, clinical findings and laboratory findings between myocardial fibrosis, traumatic pericarditis and endocarditis valvularis. Only pathological and histological examinations of the heart confirm a suspected myocardial fibrosis: The heart is enlarged and dilatated and seems to be non-elastic. Microscopically a scattered interstitial fibrosis and signs of myocardial degeneration are visible.

Ventricular septal defects in bovine twins.

Ventricular septal defects were diagnosed in twin cows. One of the cows was slaughtered, and the other died of complications associated with the defect. This and other reports may provide evidence to determine the basis of ventricular septal defects in cattle.

Alloxan-induced diabetes mellitus in the pregnant ewe: metabolic and cardiovascular effects on the mother and her fetus.

Diabetes mellitus was acutely produced in nine pregnant sheep by the intravenous administration of alloxan 40 mg/kg in the maternal inferior vena cava. Maternal and fetal plasma concentrations of glucose, lactate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, insulin, glucagon, and PaO2, oxygen content, and pH were determined before and at days 1, 3, and 5 after the injection of alloxan. Two animals aborted between days 1 and 3 after alloxan administration. In the other animals, significant changes occurred from baseline to day 5: maternal hyperglycemia (56.8 +/- 5.2 vs. 227.3 +/- 54.6 mg/dl; p less than 0.01), maternal hypoinsulinemia (6.2 +/- 3.5 vs. 1.0 +/- 0.4 microU/ml, p = 0.016); maternal hyperketonemia (beta-hydroxybutyrate: 0.79 +/- 0.27 vs. 4.69 +/- 2.64 mmol/L, p less than 0.01); fetal hyperglycemia (17.0 +/- 2.6 vs. 86.0 +/- 16.2 mg/dl, p less than 0.001); fetal hyperinsulinemia (8.4 +/- 4.5 vs. 19.2 +/- 6.4 microU/ml, p less than 0.001); fetal hyperketonemia (beta-hydroxybutyrate: 0.03 +/- 0.03 vs. 0.06 +/- 0.02 mmol/L, p less than 0.05); fetal hypoxemia (arterial PO2: 21.6 +/- 1.8 vs. 18.0 +/- 2.8 mm Hg, p less than 0.05, and oxygen content: 7.1 +/- 0.5 vs. 4.5 +/- 1.9 vol/dl, p less than 0.02). Thus alloxan administered in the pregnant ewe can produce major metabolic and endocrine derangements acutely simulating those occurring in human insulin-dependent diabetic pregnancy.

Atrial fibrillation in a pregnant mare: treatment with quinidine sulfate.

Atrial fibrillation in a pregnant, lactating, 15-year-old mare nursing a 70-day-old foal was converted to normal sinus rhythm, using quinidine sulfate. The maximum concentration of quinidine was 4.3 mg/L in the mare's milk and was 2.6 mg/L in the mare's serum. Treatment with quinidine did not interrupt the pregnancy. Six months after treatment, the mare developed acute volvulus of the large colon and died. At necropsy, the mare did not have macroscopic or microscopic cardiac lesions. The fetus was macroscopically and histologically normal.

Rupture of an aortic sinus aneurysm in a 15-year-old broodmare.

A 15-year-old, Standardbred broodmare with an aortic sinus aneurysm developed rupture of the aneurysm with subsequent rupture of a tricuspid valve chorda tendinae, tricuspid regurgitation, acute right-sided congestive heart failure, and pulmonary thromboembolism. Shunting of blood from the aorta through the ruptured aneurysm into the right ventricle resulted in decreased renal perfusion and acute renal failure. Initially, treatment of the mare with analgesics, fluids, and digoxin resulted in clinical improvement, but the mare's condition deteriorated after 8 days and the mare was euthanatized due to unrelenting pain and a poor prognosis. Echocardiography was useful in diagnosis of the cardiac disease in the broodmare.

[Abscess in the heart septum of a cow. Necropsy findings]. / Abszess im Herzseptum einer Kuh. Ein Schlachtbefund.

There is a case-report of an abscess in the septum of the heart of a thirteen-year-old cow in an advanced state of pregnancy.

Coronary arterial disease and atheromatosis in breeding sows.

The reported investigations were carried out on old breeding sows belonging to the Big White Polish Breed (BWPB) which were compared with a control group of young female pigs before fertilization, belonging to the same breed. In the perinatal period the animals were examined for presence of chronic ischaemic heart disease by clinical methods and ECG. In the interoestrus period determinations were performed in the serum of total cholesterol, free cholesterol, cholesterol esters, triglycerides, free fatty acids, total lipids and lipoprotein fractions. After killing the animals the heart and the coronary arteries were examined macroscopically and microscopically. Clinical examinations demonstrated coronary failure confirmed by ECG investigations. A correlation was found between hyperlipidaemia, particularly dyslipoproteinaemia, and advanced arteriomediosclerosis of the intramural vessels of the left ventricle, with selective, evident atherosclerotic changes in the left main coronary artery. Correlations and clinico-pathological interrelations are discussed between coronary failure, hyperlipidaemia and morphological changes in the left part of the heart.

Gross and microscopic observations of ovarian abnormalities from five Burchell's zebra, Equus Burchelli antiquorum, Smith 1841.

Five pair of zebra ovaries were submitted to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute for examination because of unusual uni- and/or bilateral gross appearances. Microscopic findings revealed an accessory spleen encapsulated by the ovarian peritoneum, a case of tubo-ovarian cysts, one example of ovarian aplasia, an example of germinal inclusion cysts and an abnormal follicular haemorrhage related to pressure necrosis of a nearby corpus luteum. Similarities to the ovary of the domestic mare were also seen and some are briefly described.