The decision-making process for liver biopsy is quite complicated: many factors are patient-specific. We’re always happy to discuss individual cases. If we need histopathology or assessment of copper levels then it’s important to consider risk factors for post-op bleeding. It’s not always a black or white decision. In many cases, there’s a grey area where … Continue reading
My impression, from a UK veterinary perspective, is that lung ultrasound (LUS) gets variable press. Specifically, most specialist cardiologists don’t much care for it. It’s useful to understand why this is. It’s no coincidence that LUS was discovered and developed primarily by human acute care physicians in intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency departments. Looking … Continue reading
Firstly, a young CKCS with PCR +ve Pneumocystis pneumonia: this dog had a history of masticatory muscle myositis managed successfully with chronic steroid therapy until he recently developed severely increased respiratory effort. There are widespread lines perpendicular to the pleurae. As discussed in previous posts, the appearance of abnormal lung lines on ultrasound is … Continue reading
VPS’ Rita Pires reviews the slightly shocking recent literature Thanks to the RVC cardiology team, we now know a bit more about the natural history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in a non-referral cat population. The picture of subclinical HCM presented in earlier publications tends to be biased as the studies were generally based on samples … Continue reading
Gosh we (mostly) love a challenging case at VPS…and this is a challenging one. A previously-healthy three-year-old male Labradoodle presented with malaise of several days duration progressing to marked hyperpnoea, abdominal discomfort, vomiting with fresh blood and sparse, sanguinous nasal discharge. Routine haematology and biochemistry, including electrolytes, were largely unremarkable although C-reactive protein was markedly … Continue reading
Murphy initially presented with a two week history of vague malaise, occasional diarrhoea and abdominal discomfort followed by apparent constipation. Radiographs confirmed a very full colon and an enema was performed: Within a few days, however, he had deteriorated further and now started vomiting/regurgitating. By this stage he was eating very little. Routine haematology and … Continue reading
Recent research has documented delayed onset of sonographic changes in acute canine pancreatitis. This is enormously important in a clinical setting where we now realise that the absence of typical pancreatitis findings on first presentation doesn’t rule it out and we are sometimes going to have to re-scan a dog with ‘acute abdomen’ a few … Continue reading
For many years there has been sparse and confusing information available on HMVD/PHPV. Well, I find it confusing anyway! For starters, although the term PHPV has been chosen by the liver standardisation group of the WSAVA as its preferred terminology, the vast majority of dogs with PHPV don’t have a hypoplastic (main) portal vein: rather … Continue reading
The patient on this occasion was an 11 y.o. FN Border Collie with a history of a traumatic wound to the right fore paw surgically repaired a couple of months earlier but otherwise in good health. She presented acutely depressed, anorexic and deteriorated to the point of recumbency within 24 hours. Purulent discharge from the … Continue reading
Our understanding of the complexities of canine acute pancreatitis continues to develop through a revealing series of recent publications. Secondary gastrointestinal changes in acute pancreatitis: J Vet Intern Med 2022 May;36(3):947-956Prevalence of ultrasonographic gastrointestinal wall changes in dogs with acute pancreatitis: A retrospective study (2012-2020)Joshua J Hardwick, Elizabeth J Reeve, Melanie J Hezzell, Jenny A … Continue reading
