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- Author or Editor: Judith Howard x
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Abstract
Objective—To evaluate the agreement of blood pressure measurements and hypertension scores obtained by use of 3 indirect arterial blood pressure measurement devices in hospitalized dogs.
Design—Diagnostic test evaluation.
Animals—29 client-owned dogs.
Procedures—5 to 7 consecutive blood pressure readings were obtained from each dog on each of 3 occasions with a Doppler ultrasonic flow detector, a standard oscillometric device (STO), and a high-definition oscillometric device (HDO).
Results—When the individual sets of 5 to 7 readings were evaluated, the coefficient of variation for systolic arterial blood pressure (SAP) exceeded 20% for 0% (Doppler), 11 % (STO), and 28% (HDO) of the sets of readings. After readings that exceeded a 20% coefficient of variation were discarded, repeatability was within 25 (Doppler), 37 (STO), and 39 (HDO) mm Hg for SAP. Correlation of mean values among the devices was between 0.47 and 0.63. Compared with Doppler readings, STO underestimated and HDO overestimated SAP. Limits of agreement between mean readings of any 2 devices were wide. With the hypertension scale used to score SAP, the intraclass correlation of scores was 0.48. Linear-weighted inter-rater reliability between scores was 0.40 (Doppler vs STO), 0.38 (Doppler vs HDO), and 0.29 (STO vs HDO).
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results of this study suggested that no meaningful clinical comparison can be made between blood pressure readings obtained from the same dog with different indirect blood pressure measurement devices.
Abstract
Objective—To evaluate whether changes in gastric myoelectrical activity in healthy, awake dogs can be detected via multichannel electrogastrography (EGG).
Animals—6 healthy hound-breed dogs.
Procedures—For each dog, 8-channel EGG was performed after food had been withheld for 12 hours and at 30 minutes after subsequent feeding; 60 minutes after feeding, atropine (0.04 mg/kg) was administered IM to induce ileus, and 30 minutes later, EGG was again performed. Mean cycles per minute (cpm) values of the dominant frequency (a measure of the rhythmicity of gastric electrical activity) and mean power ratios (ie, power measured after treatment divided by the power measured when food was withheld) were calculated. Motility of the gastric antrum was assessed via B-mode ultrasonography during the same phases; contractions determined ultrasonographically were correlated with EGG power for each channel in each phase.
Results—The criterion for stability (SD of the dominant frequency < 15% of the cpm value in at least 3 of the 8 EGG channels) was met in 4 of the 6 dogs (only in long-distance channels). The mean power ratios were significantly higher in the postprandial phase than in the ileus phase. Compared with the postprandial phase, significantly fewer contractions per minute were evident ultrasonographically in the ileus and food-withholding phases. There was a significant and good correlation between EGG power and ultrasonographic findings in all 8 channels.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Electrogastrography may be useful in assessing gastric myoelectrical activities in awake dogs with naturally occurring gastrointestinal disease, including gastric dilatation-volvulus.
Abstract
Objective—To evaluate the accuracy of neurologic examination versus magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in localization of cervical disk herniation and evaluate the usefulness of withdrawal reflex testing in dogs.
Design—Retrospective case series.
Animals—35 client-owned dogs with a single-level cervical disk herniation as determined via MRI.
Procedures—1 of 2 board-certified neurologists performed a complete neurologic examination in each dog. Clinical signs of a cervical lesion included evidence of neck pain and tetraparesis. The withdrawal reflex was used for neuroanatomic localization (C1-C5 or C6-T2). Agreement between results of neurologic and MRI examinations was determined.
Results—Agreement between neurologic and MRI diagnoses was 65.8%. In 11 dogs in which the lesion was clinically localized to the C6-T2 segment on the basis of a decreased withdrawal reflex in the forelimbs, MRI revealed an isolated C1-C5 disk lesion. In 1 dog, in which the lesion was suspected to be at the C1-C5 level, MRI revealed a C6-T2 lesion. Cranial cervical lesions were significantly associated with an incorrect neurologic diagnosis regarding site of the lesion.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggested that the withdrawal reflex in dogs with cervical disk herniation is not reliable for determining the affected site and that a decreased withdrawal reflex does not always indicate a lesion from C6 to T2.
