Publications by authors named "Erik Hofmeister"

Objective: To compare the use of methylene blue and blue tissue marker in achieving sciatic nerve staining in cadaveric rats after perineural or intramuscular injection.

Study Design: Experimental, randomized, blinded, crossover cadaveric study.

Animals: A group of 16 fresh-frozen adult Wistar rat cadavers.

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Objective: To document the anesthesia curricula in colleges of veterinary medicine and compare it with student clinical supervision and expectations of new graduates by anesthesia staff.

Study Design: Cross-sectional open survey study.

Population: American Veterinary Medical Association-accredited colleges of veterinary medicine (41 out of 49) and members of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia-L (ACVA-L) listserv (88 of 128 responses).

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Migratory birds are species of concern that play important ecological roles while also supporting recreational opportunities for the hunting and birdwatching public. Direct and indirect effects of climate variability, extremes, and change on migratory bird health manifest at the individual, population, species, and community levels. This review focuses on the effects of climate on migratory birds that spend part of their life cycles in the south-central USA.

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Background: Dobutamine is used to treat hypotension in isoflurane-anaesthetised horses but may produce arrhythmias. Halothane is a volatile anaesthetic that was, historically, widely used in horses, but in one study, 56 of 200 halothane-anaesthetised horses (28%) developed arrhythmias after dobutamine administration. Although isoflurane has largely replaced halothane, it is unknown how isoflurane and dobutamine interact in the development of arrhythmias.

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The objective of this study was to determine the nomenclature for friction knots commonly used by veterinary surgeons. Veterinary surgeons certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) or the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS) were recruited through email listings available on the websites of veterinary schools and the ACVS to participate in a survey on this subject. Participation was also solicited through the ACVS Facebook page, the Society of Veterinary Soft Tissue Surgery, and the Veterinary Orthopedic Society.

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Objective: To assess the effect of two different doses of intramuscular atipamezole on head height (HH) in horses after sedation with detomidine.

Study Design: Randomized, blinded, triple crossover study.

Animals: Eight healthy adult horses.

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Patient safety culture (PSC) is a multi-dimensional construct that reflects the way health care organizations promote safe patient care. Veterinary students are explicitly and implicitly indoctrinated into organizational cultures and will carry these attitudes and behaviors into their future work. In this study, we evaluated the psychometric properties of a PSC survey among veterinary students in the United States and investigated their attitudes toward PSC.

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This study aimed to identify qualitative aspects of small animal veterinary internship applications that are associated with relative intern performance. This study took place with data collected on small animal interns from the 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018 intern classes from four different institutions. Applicants were divided into top-performers and bottom-performers by sorting the calculated overall scores from highest to lowest, labeling the top half of interns as "top-performers," and the lower half of interns as "bottom-performers.

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Objective:  The aim of this study was to compare the bending properties of String of Pearls plate-bone substitute constructs with and without bending tees in the nodes over a simulated fracture gap. It is hypothesized that the constructs with tees will have higher bending stiffness.

Study Design:  Acetal polymer tubes and 12-hole, 3.

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Alfaxalone is a neuroactive steroid that modulates the GABA receptor, which has shown recent widespread use as a sedative and anesthetic agent in cats, especially in patients being screened for cardiovascular disease. This prospective, partially blinded, randomized experimental study aimed to determine if sedation with alfaxalone would alter the appearance of the cardiac silhouette or pulmonary vasculature on thoracic radiographs or echocardiographic indices of cardiac or pulmonary vascular size. Eleven apparently healthy adult cats were recruited from a research colony.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to understand veterinary students' perceptions of anesthesiology as a career specialization by conducting a survey of 303 students from 10 veterinary schools.
  • The results showed that only 6% of respondents chose veterinary anesthesia as their preferred specialty, but interest in anesthesia was linked to factors such as age, class enjoyment, and beliefs about its importance in veterinary care.
  • Key predictors for considering a career in veterinary anesthesiology included a strong interest in pharmacology and high enjoyment of anesthesia courses and clinical rotations.*
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It has been proposed that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus that spread through human populations as a pandemic originated in Asian bats. There is concern that infected humans could transmit the virus to native North American bats; therefore, the susceptibility of several North American bat species to the pandemic virus has been experimentally assessed. Big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) were shown to be resistant to infection by SARS-CoV-2, whereas Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) became infected and orally excreted moderate amounts of virus for up to 18 d postinoculation.

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Objective: To examine whether increased systemic arterial blood pressure (ABP) and decreased heart rate (HR) under inhalant anesthesia were suggestive of the Cushing reflex (CR) in dogs with neurological diseases based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings.

Study Design: Retrospective case-control study.

Animals: A sample of 137 client-owned dogs admitted to two veterinary teaching hospitals for diagnosis and patient care owing to suspected intracranial disease from 2005 to 2020.

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Objective: To compare the success rate and extent of sciatic nerve staining with a bupivacaine-dye solution using two injection techniques: 'blind' or ultrasound-guided approach.

Study Design: Prospective, experimental, randomized, cadaveric study.

Animals: Adult female Wistar rat cadavers [n = 24, mass 352 g (323-374)].

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Background: Iatrogenic blood contamination during cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) centesis is common, which can limit the diagnostic usefulness of the sample. A novel ultrasound-guided CSF collection technique is described in horses, by which CSF is obtained from the atlantoaxial (AA) space.

Hypothesis/objectives: To compare ultrasound-guided AA centesis with lumbosacral (LS) centesis in South American camelids (SAC).

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Snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan, USA, occupy the southern periphery of the species' range and are vulnerable to climate change. In the eastern UP, hares are isolated by the Great Lakes, potentially exacerbating exposure to climate-change-induced habitat alterations. Climate change is also measurably affecting distribution and prevalence of vector-borne pathogens in North America, and increases in disease occurrence and prevalence can be one signal of climate-stressed wildlife populations.

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Objective: To identify the preferences of small animal veterinary clients for the timing of communication during CPR and whether these clients prefer the veterinarian or pet owner to decide on the termination of resuscitation.

Sample: Surveys (n = 1,648) were completed between January 20 and February 3, 2023, by clients of the Wilford and Kate Bailey Small Animal Teaching Hospital.

Methods: This cross-sectional observational study used an anonymous internet-based survey distributed to 28,000 clients of an academic small animal veterinary hospital.

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Objective: To investigate the feasibility of an ultrasound-guided sciatic nerve block by describing the sonoanatomy and comparing the distribution of two volumes of bupivacaine dye solution for nerve staining.

Study Design: Randomized, experimental, assessor-blinded cadaveric study.

Animals: A total of 40 adult female Wistar rat cadavers.

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Objective: To evaluate the effect of a single intravenous injection of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) on body temperature in cats undergoing general anesthesia.

Study Design: Prospective, blinded, randomized, crossover, experimental study.

Animals: A total of 10 healthy adult cats (five female and five male).

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A disadvantage of colorimetric detection in nucleic acid amplification assays is the possibility that a colorblind individual may interpret colors differently than observers with full-color vision. Using an isothermal amplification assay, the ability of colorblind individuals to distinguish between positive and negative results for four dyes was tested. Five individuals with self-reported colorblindness and four with full-color vision reported their observations of the color of the solution.

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Studies in human medicine indicate that between 22,000 and 400,000 people die every year as a direct result of medical errors. In veterinary medicine, 42% of human-caused incidents caused harm to the patient, including 5% resulting in death. In a university veterinary teaching hospital, there were 5.

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Objective: In people, the dose of propofol (DOP) required for procedural sedation and anesthesia decreases significantly with age. The objective of this study was to determine if the DOP required to perform endotracheal intubation decreases with age in dogs.

Study Design: Retrospective case series.

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With the continued rise of interest and need for veterinary specialists, information regarding optimal selection criteria for successful residency candidates has been lacking in veterinary medicine. A 28-question online survey was developed to determine prioritized resident selection criteria, the importance of formal interviews, and residency supervisor satisfaction with the current selection process. This survey was sent to all programs listed by the Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program (VIRMP) for the 2019-2020 program year.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the occurrence of post-operative complications and survival to discharge in horses with ileal impactions resolved by manual decompression compared with jejunal enterotomy.

Animals: A total of 121 client-owned horses undergoing surgical correction of an ileal impaction at three teaching hospitals.

Materials And Methods: Data from the medical records of horses undergoing surgical correction of an ileal impaction was retrospectively collected.

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