In This Issue—January 1, 2008

JAVMA News

Spending on veterinary care is up while veterinary visits per pet are down, according to the new 2007 US Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook from the AVMA.

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What Is Your Diagnosis?

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Animal Behavior Case of the Month

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EDITORIAL

A new classification for retrospective reviews of medical records

For the past 20 years, the JAVMA has used a unique Retro spective Study format for reporting results of studies involving the retrospective review of medical records. With this issue, however, the Retrospective Study format is being phased out, and these types of retrospective case series will be classified with other reports of original research.

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PERSPECTIVES IN PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

Frequency of activities and procedures performed in private equine practice

Schools and colleges of veterinary medicine have an obligation to document their learning objectives and provide evidence that their graduates have met those objectives. Such outcome assessments should be based on those activities and procedures frequently performed by practicing veterinarians and the expectations of those hiring recent graduates.

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FACTS & FIGURES

Employment of female and male graduates of US veterinary medical colleges, 2007

Overall, 89.1% of males and 87.3% of females graduating from US veterinary medical colleges in 2007 who received an offer of employment accepted. Mean starting salary was $47,561 for male graduates who accepted a full-time position and $45,749 for female graduates who accepted a full-time position.

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Neoadjuvant prednisone administration in the treatment of cutaneous mast cell tumors in dogs

The preferred treatment for cutaneous MCTs in dogs is wide surgical resection. In some instances, however, obtaining wide margins may be impossible because of tumor size or location. Thus, methods to reduce tumor burden prior to resection would be useful. In a study of 49 dogs with cutaneous MCTs treated with neoadjuvant prednisone administration followed by surgical resection, 70% of the tumors were responsive to prednisone treatment. Median reduction in tumor volume was 80.6% and median reduction in maximal diameter was 45.2%. Results suggested that neoadjuvant prednisone administration was a useful tool for reducing tumor burden in dogs with MCT and subjectively facilitated subsequent tumor resection.

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Serum liver enzyme activities in healthy Miniature Schnauzers

Persistent hypertriglyceridemia is reportedly common in healthy Miniature Schnauzers, although the cause and health implications of this condition are not clear. Human patients with hypertriglyceridemia may have high serum liver enzyme activities, but an association between hypertriglyceridemia and high serum liver enzyme activities in dogs has not been reported. A cross-sectional study of 105 healthy Miniature Schnauzers with and without hypertriglyceridemia revealed that dogs with moderate to severe hypertriglyceridemia (ie, serum triglyceride concentration > 400 mg/dL) were more likely to have high serum alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and γ-glutamyltransferase activities than were dogs with serum triglyceride concentrations within reference limits.

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A method for planning surgical correction of an antebrachial abnormality in a dog

Correction of a severe, partially compensated, biapical antebrachial angular limb deformity in a dog was undertaken after application of a segmental radiographic planning technique combined with the center of rotation of angulation method, computed tomography, and stereolithography. Measurements obtained from radiographic and tomographic images and 3-dimensional image reconstruction of the antebrachium and carpus were used to create 3 life-size stereolithographic models, which were used to plan the surgical procedure and assess the potential outcome prior to surgery. Success of the surgical correction suggested that a combination of radiography, computed tomography, and stereolithography may be useful in characterizing and planning corrective surgery for forelimb deformities in dogs.

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Disseminated histoplasmosis in an African pygmy hedgehog

Histoplasmosis was determined to be the cause of death of a 2-year-old African pygmy hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris) that initially had vague signs ofillnessincludinginappetence, weakness, lethargy, and weight loss and later developed splenomegaly. Although such clinical signs and splenomegaly in pygmy hedgehogs are commonly attributed to neoplasia, histoplasmosis and possibly other systemic granulomatous disorders must be considered in affected hedgehogs. In areas in which the disease is endemic, histoplasmosis should be considered as a differentialdiagnosisin pygmy hedgehogs with vague signs of illness, even when those pets are confined indoors.

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Prognostic factors in the surgical treatment of adrenal gland tumors in dogs

Adrenalectomy may be required in some dogs with adrenal gland tumors, but morbidity and mortality rates associated with adrenalectomy reportedly are high. Thus, identifying factors associated with prognosis in dogs undergoing adrenalectomy may be helpful in patient selection. A review of medical records of 41 dogs that underwent adrenalectomy because of adrenal gland tumors revealed that 9 (22%) dogs died or were euthanatized prior to discharge from the hospital. Multivariate analysis revealed that preoperative hypokalemia, a high preoperative BUN concentration, and concurrent nephrectomy were significantly associated with shorter survival times. Dogs that survived until discharge from the hospital had long survival times.

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Outcome of yearling Thoroughbreds bought for the purpose of resale for profit

Thoroughbred yearling horses purchased for the purpose of resale for profit were monitored during training prior to sale as 2-year-olds for signs of lameness, and financial returns of horses classified as having fast, average, or slow performance speeds (assessed at the time of sale) were examined. Although adult racehorses purchased for the purpose of resale and profit most often develop lameness of the forelimbs during training prior to sale, these yearling horses more commonly developed hind limb lameness. Lameness was attributable to joint injury in most affected horses. Financial returns were different between horses classified as fast and those classified as slow at the time of sale as 2-year-olds.

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Comparison of paste formulations of firocoxib and phenylbutazone in horses

Phenylbutazone has been the most commonly administered nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug in horses, but is well documented to have a limited safety margin. Firocoxib has been shown to selectively inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 activity and could potentially be associated with fewer adverse effects. However, no studies evaluating the use of firocoxib for the control of pain and inflammation in horses with osteoarthritis have been published. A multicenter, randomized, controlled trial in which paste formulations of firocoxib or phenylbutazone were administered to 253 client-owned horses with naturally occurring osteoarthritis revealed no difference in proportions of horses clinically improved after 14 days of treatment. No direct treatment-related adverse effects were observed during the study.

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Management practices used by white-tailed deer farms

In recent years, the white-tailed deer farming industry has become well established in the United States. However, little information is available regarding management practices and animal health issues. A survey of owners and managers of 233 farms in Pennsylvania that raised white-tailed deer revealed wide diversity in herd size (range, 1 to 350 deer), land holdings (range, 0.07 to 607 hectares [0.17 to 1,500 acres]), and stocking density (range, 0.1 to 118.6 deer/hectare [0.04 to 48 deer/acre]). Use of vaccines, veterinary and diagnostic services, pasture, and artificial insemination increased as herd size increased. Regardless of herd size, however, many preventive medicine practices were improperly used or underused.

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