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- Author or Editor: Renata Ivanek x
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Abstract
Objective—To elucidate the relationship between plasma ammonia concentration and severity of hepatic encephalopathy and determine whether factors that precipitate hepatic encephalopathy in humans are associated with the presence of clinical signs of hepatic encephalopathy in dogs previously treated for the disease.
Design—Retrospective case series.
Animals—118 dogs with hepatic encephalopathy.
Procedures—The medical records database of a veterinary teaching hospital was searched for records of dogs in which hepatic encephalopathy was diagnosed between October 1, 1991, and September 1, 2014. Hepatic encephalopathy severity was graded on a 5-point scale, and the correlation between disease severity and plasma ammonia concentration was determined. Respective associations between hepatic encephalopathy and systemic inflammatory response syndrome, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, dietary indiscretion, constipation, furosemide treatment, azotemia, hypokalemia, hyponatremia, alkalosis, and hyperammonemia were assessed by Fisher exact tests followed by multivariable logistic regression.
Results—Severity of hepatic encephalopathy at hospital admission was not significantly correlated with plasma ammonia concentration. Dogs treated for hepatic encephalopathy prior to hospital admission were significantly less likely to have clinical signs of the disease at hospital admission, compared with dogs that were not treated for the disease (OR, 0.36; 95% confidence interval, 0.17 to 0.78). None of the putative precipitating factors for hepatic encephalopathy were significantly associated with the presence of clinical signs of the disease at hospital admission.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results indicated that hepatic encephalopathy treatment alleviated clinical signs of the disease. Further investigation is necessary to identify precipitating factors for hepatic encephalopathy in dogs. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2015;247:176–183)
Abstract
Objective—To determine the duration of fecal shedding of and serologic response to Salmonella spp after natural infection in dairy calves and characterize Salmonella organisms recovered from these herds.
Design—Longitudinal study.
Animals—Calves from 2 dairy herds (A and B) in the northeast United States that were identified at the beginning of a Salmonella outbreak.
Procedures—Fecal samples were collected twice per week (herd A) or once per week (herd B); blood samples were collected for serologic testing once per week in both herds. Bacteriologic culture of fecal samples was performed, and Salmonella isolates were characterized by serotype, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern, and antimicrobial resistance profile.
Results—All Salmonella isolates from herd A were serovar Typhimurium var Copenhagen, had the same PFGE pattern, and were resistant to at least 9 antimicrobials. All isolates from herd B were Salmonella Typhimurium, represented 2 PFGE patterns, and were susceptible to all antimicrobials evaluated. The estimated duration of fecal shedding was 14 days in herd A and 9 days in herd B. Few calves were seropositive for antibody against Salmonella lipopolysaccharide within the first week after birth (0 of 20 in herd A and 13 of 79 in herd B) or seroconverted (6 in herd A and 4 in herd B). Fecal shedding was more common in calves that seroconverted, but overall, there was not a strong association between seropositivity and fecal shedding of Salmonella organisms.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Although the herds differed in serologic response and Salmonella subtype, the duration of fecal shedding among calves was similar between herds.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To investigate risk factors for the development of pasture- and endocrinopathy-associated laminitis (PEAL) in horses and ponies in North America.
DESIGN Case-control study.
ANIMALS 199 horses with incident cases of PEAL and 351 horses from 2 control populations (healthy horses [n = 198] and horses with lameness not caused by laminitis [153]) that were evaluated in North America between January 2012 and December 2015 by veterinarian members of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.
PROCEDURES North American members of the American Association of Equine Practitioners were contacted to participate in the study, and participating veterinarians provided historical data on incident cases of PEAL, each matched with a healthy control and a lameness control. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to compare data on PEAL-affected horses with data on horses from each set of controls.
RESULTS Horses with an obese body condition (ie, body condition score ≥ 7), generalized or regional adiposity (alone or in combination), preexisting endocrinopathy, or recent (within 30 days) glucocorticoid administration had increased odds of developing PEAL, compared with horses that did not have these findings.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE The present study identified several risk factors for PEAL that may assist not only in managing and preventing this form of laminitis, but also in guiding future research into its pathogenesis.
