A systematic review of criteria used to report complications in soft tissue and oncologic surgical clinical research studies in dogs and cats.

ObjectiveTo evaluate reporting of surgical complications and other adverse events in clinical research articles describing soft tissue and oncologic surgery in dogs and cats.Study designSystematic literature review.SampleEnglish-language articles describing soft tissue and oncologic surgeries in client-owned dogs and cats published in peer-reviewed journals from 2013 to 2016.MethodsCAB, AGRICOLA, and MEDLINE databases were searched for eligible articles. Article characteristics relevant to complications were abstracted and summarized, including reported events, definitions, criteria used to classify events according to severity and time frame, and relevant citations.ResultsOne hundred fifty-one articles involving 10 522 animals were included. Canine retrospective case series of dogs predominated. Ninety-two percent of articles mentioned complications in study results, but only 7.3% defined the term complication. Articles commonly described complications according to time frame and severity, but terminology and classification criteria were highly variable, conflicting between studies, or not provided. Most (58%) reported complications could have been graded with a published veterinary adverse event classification scheme, although common intraoperative complications were notable exceptions.ConclusionDefinitions and criteria used to classify and report soft tissue and oncologic surgical complications are often absent, incomplete, or contradictory among studies.Clinical significanceLack of consistent terminology contributes to inadequate communication of important information about surgical complications. Standardization of terminology and consistency in severity scoring will improve comparative evaluation of clinical research results

Anti-phospholipid-antibodies in patients with relapsing polychondritis

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is an extremly rare multisystemic disease thought to be of autoimmune origin. In order to assess if RP is associated with anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPL), clinical data and sera of 21 patients with RP were collected in a multicentre study. Concentration of anti-cardiolipin antibodies (aCL) (IgG-, IgM-and IgA-isotypes), anti-phosphatidylserine-antibodies (aPS) (IgG-and IgM-isotypes) and anti-β-2-glycoprotein I-antibodies (aβ2 GPI) were measured by ELISA. In eight patients aCL were found to be elevated. One patient had elevated aPS. No patient had elevated aβ2 GPI. No patient had clinical signs and symptoms of a aPL syndrome. Interestingly, the two RP patients with the highest aPL had concomitant systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Therefore the presence of elevated aPL in RP is probably more closely related to an associated SLE than to RP itself. There is no convincing evidence that aPL are associated with RP

Thermal behaviour of rebars and steel deck components of composite slabs under natural fire

Most of the studies involving composite slabs under fire follow the standard fire scenario described by the ISO 834 curve, disregarding the cooling-phase. However, recent studies show that this phase is equally important, as it can lead to the collapse of the structure. Therefore, the present research carried out a parametric study, using numerical models, validated through experimental tests, to evaluate the thermal behaviour of the composite slabs components under natural fire. The results showed that the maximum temperatures in the reinforcement bars occur during the cooling-phase, reaching temperatures up to 300% higher than at the heating-phase, on the steel deck occur at the end of heating, and that the concrete thickness above the steel deck influences the temperature of these components. Also, during the cooling-phase, a “heat bubble” effect is observed on the ribs of the composite slabs, where the reinforcement bars are normally placed. These results highlight the importance of considering different natural fire scenarios, in the structural performance and safety of composite slabs, since during the cooling-phase there is still heat transfer between the elements, which can lead to slab failure. New parameters are proposed to find the temperature of each component for different fire ratings

Aberrant migration and surgical removal of a heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) from the femoral artery of a cat.

A cat was evaluated for an acute-onset of right pelvic limb paresis. Thoracic radiographs revealed normal cardiac size and tortuous pulmonary arteries. Abdominal ultrasound identified a heartworm (HW) extending from the caudal abdominal aorta into the right external iliac artery and right femoral artery. The cat was HW-antigen positive. Echocardiography revealed a HW within the right branch of the main pulmonary artery and evidence of pulmonary hypertension. An agitated-saline contrast echocardiogram revealed a small right to left intracardiac shunt at the level of the atria. Surgical removal of the HW was performed with no substantial postoperative complications. There was return of blood flow and improved motor function to the limb. The cat remains mildly paretic on the affected limb with no other clinical signs