Echocardiographic Changes in Dogs with Stage B2 Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease Treated with Pimobendan Monotherapy.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of chronic pimobendan monotherapy on cardiac size in dogs with stage B2 myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). Data from 31 dogs diagnosed with MMVD and cardiomegaly (LA/Ao ≥ 1.6 and LVIDdn ≥ 1.

Retrospective evaluation of systemic hypertension in dogs with nonassociative (primary) immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (December 2016 to April 2019): 26 cases.

Objective: To report the prevalence of arterial hypertension in a population of dogs with nonassociative immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) on presentation and during hospitalization. To determine the relationships of systolic blood pressure (SBP) with mortality and a prognostic indicator, the canine hemolytic anemia objective score.

Design: Retrospective observational study (December 2016 to April 2019).

Branham sign in dogs undergoing interventional patent ductus arteriosus occlusion or surgical ligation: A retrospective study.

Background: The Branham sign is a baroreceptor response that follows patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closure. Although described in dogs following both interventional and surgical ductal closure, a direct comparison of the Branham sign elicited by these two techniques has not been made.

Aim: Since closure with an Amplatz canine ductal occluder (ACDO) occurs over 10 minutes and surgical ligation (SL) is more rapid, we hypothesized that the Branham sign following occlusion of a PDA with an ACDO would be less severe than following SL.

Association of diet with left ventricular wall thickness, troponin I and IGF-1 in cats with subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Cats with subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (sHCM) have elevated serum insulin and serum amyloid A concentrations correlating with the degree of cardiac hypertrophy. Diet might affect these and other cardiac variables.

Objective: Evaluate the effect of a complete, balanced diet with restricted starch and supplemented with eicosapentaenoic acid + docosahexaenoic acid (EPA + DHA) on echocardiographic variables and cardiac biomarkers in cats with sHCM.

Standardisation of electrocardiographic examination in corn snakes ().

Introduction: Corn snakes are a very common pet reptile species, yet there is an absence of evidence-based literature standardising collection of ECG or detailing ECG deflection morphology in the normal animal. The authors describe a well-tolerated, reproducible technique and detail the cardiac cycle in terms of lead 2 equivalent waveforms and intervals.

Animals: 29 adult corn snakes.

Associations among echocardiography, cardiac biomarkers, insulin metabolism, morphology, and inflammation in cats with asymptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and inflammation possibly are involved in cats with asymptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (aHCM).

Objectives: To evaluate echocardiography, morphology, cardiac and inflammatory markers, insulin and IGF-1 in cats with aHCM.

Animals: Fifty-one client-owned cats with aHCM.

Survival of activated myofibroblasts in canine myxomatous mitral valve disease and the role of apoptosis.

Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is the single most important acquired cardiovascular disease of the dog. Much is known about the cellular changes and the contribution of activated myofibroblasts (valve interstitial cells (aVICs) to the valve extra-cellular matrix remodelling characteristic of the disease. However, little is known on how aVIC survival might contribute to disease pathogenesis.

Tricuspid valve dysplasia: A retrospective study of clinical features and outcome in dogs in the UK.

The objective of this study was to determine the demographic, clinical and survival characteristics and to identify risk factors for mortality due to tricuspid valve dysplasia in UK dogs. Records of client-owned dogs diagnosed with tricuspid valve dysplasia at a referral centre were retrospectively reviewed. Only dogs diagnosed with tricuspid valve dysplasia based on the presence of a right-sided heart murmur identified prior to one year of age, and confirmed with Doppler echocardiography, were included.

Vasovagal tonus index (VVTI) as an indirect assessment of remission status in canine multicentric lymphoma undergoing multi-drug chemotherapy.

Vasovagal tonus index (VVTI) is an indirect measure of heart rate variability and may serve as a marker of disease severity. Higher heart rate variability has predicted lower tumour burden and improved survival in humans with various tumour types. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate VVTI as a biomarker of remission status in canine lymphoma.

Developmental pathways and endothelial to mesenchymal transition in canine myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the cardiovascular equivalent, endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndoMT), contribute to a range of chronic degenerative diseases and cancer metastasis. Chronic valvulopathies exhibit some features of EndoMT and activation of developmental signalling pathways, such as osteogenesis and chondrogenesis, expression of cell differentiation markers, basement membrane damage and endothelial transformation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential role of developmental mechanisms in canine myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) using a combination of transcriptomic array technology, RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.

Endothelin in nondiabetic chronic kidney disease: preclinical and clinical studies.

The incidence and prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasing. Despite current therapies, many patients with CKD have suboptimal blood pressure, ongoing proteinuria, and develop progressive renal dysfunction. Further therapeutic options therefore are required.

Viraemic frequencies and seroprevalence of non-primate hepacivirus and equine pegiviruses in horses and other mammalian species.

Non-primate hepacivirus (NPHV), equine pegivirus (EPgV) and Theiler's disease associated virus (TDAV) are newly discovered members of two genera in the Flaviviridae family, Hepacivirus and Pegivirus respectively, that include human hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human pegivirus (HPgV). To investigate their epidemiology, persistence and clinical features of infection, large cohorts of horses and other mammalian species were screened for NPHV, EPgV and TDAV viraemia and for past exposure through serological assays for NPHV and EPgV-specific antibodies. NPHV antibodies were detected in 43% of 328 horses screened for antibodies to NS3 and core antibodies, of which three were viraemic by PCR.

Nonprimate hepaciviruses in domestic horses, United kingdom.

Although the origin of hepatitis C virus infections in humans remains undetermined, a close homolog of this virus, termed canine hepacivirus (CHV) and found in respiratory secretions of dogs, provides evidence for a wider distribution of hepaciviruses in mammals. We determined frequencies of active infection among dogs and other mammals in the United Kingdom. Samples from dogs (46 respiratory, 99 plasma, 45 autopsy samples) were CHV negative by PCR.

Evaluation of innervation of the mitral valves and the effects of myxomatous degeneration in dogs.

Objective: To map aspects of the innervation of the mitral valve complex and determine any association with the development or progression of myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) in dogs.

Sample Population: Septal mitral valve leaflets from 11 dogs aged 6 months to > 10 years.

Procedures: Expression of protein gene product 9.

Distribution of myofibroblasts, smooth muscle-like cells, macrophages, and mast cells in mitral valve leaflets of dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Objective: To map the cellular distribution and phenotypic alteration of the predominant stromal cell population throughout the entire valve length of dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD).

Sample Population: 31 mitral valve complexes (ie, mitral valve leaflets) collected from 4 clinically normal dogs and 27 dogs with MMVD of varying severity.

Procedures: A combination of standard histologic and immunohistochemical techniques was used to identify pathologic changes, the presence of mast cells, and the density and distribution of cells expressing vimentin, desmin, alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), smooth muscle myosin, and the macrophage marker MAC387.