Alveolar mucosal approach to the canine nasal cavity.

A nine-year-old, intact female Afghan hound was presented for evaluation of an intermittent, mucopurulent, unilateral nasal discharge with a three-year duration. Radiographs showed the ipsilateral canine tooth within the rostral nasal cavity. The tooth was removed through an alveolar mucosal rhinotomy. There has been no recurrence of the nasal discharge or complications associated with the surgical procedure during the 20-month follow-up period.

Arthroscopic removal and curettage of osteochondrosis lesions on the lateral and medial trochlear ridges of the talus in two dogs.

Osteochondrosis lesions in the tibiotarsal joint were treated arthroscopically in two dogs. One dog had unilateral osteochondrosis of the dorsal aspect of the lateral trochlear ridge of the talus. The second dog had bilateral osteochondrosis of the plantar aspect of the medial trochlear ridge of the talus. Removal of all osteochondral fragments (i.e., joint mice) and debridement and curettage of the remaining talar defects were accomplished arthroscopically. Both dogs had excellent short-term outcomes.

Effect of ascorbate and two different media on canine chondrocytes in three-dimensional culture.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of ascorbate and two different culture media on cell morphology and extracellular matrix formation of canine chondrocytes grown in a three-dimensional (3-D) culture system. Articular cartilage harvested from the humeral head of three adult canine cadavers was used to obtain chondrocytes for primary culture. Subcultured chondrocytes were seeded in a 3-D medium of RPMI-1640 (R), RPMI-1640 with 50 microg/mL ascorbate (RA), Ham's F-12 (F), or Ham's F-12 with 50 microg/mL ascorbate (FA) in agarose. Samples were harvested at 5, 10, 15, and 20 days of 3-D culture and analyzed for histologic appearance and proteoglycan staining, electron microscopic appearance, dimethylmethylene blue assay for glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content, and immunohistochemical staining for collagen type II production. Chondrocytes in all four groups maintained appropriate morphology and produced matrix over the entire study period. Chondrocytes from groups R and RA produced more GAG and collagen type II than did those from groups F and FA on days 10 (P = .00791) and 15 (P = .0173). Chondrocytes from group RA produced more GAG on days 5 (P = .0154) and 20 (P = .0044) than did those in groups R, F, and FA. With respect to matrix production, RPMI-1640 is superior to Ham's F-12 for 3-D culture of canine chondrocytes. The addition of ascorbate at 50 microg/mL to RPMI-1640 did have a positive effect on the production of GAG but had minimal effect on type II collagen production. Determining the most ideal in vitro microenvironment for canine chondrocytes grown in a 3-D culture system has important implications to the in vivo application of this technique.