Evaluation of Urethral Stent Placement for Benign Urethral Obstructions in Dogs

BACKGROUND: Benign urethral obstructions (BUO) in dogs result in substantial morbidity because of challenges with conventional therapies. Treatment of malignant urethral obstructions with intraluminal urethral stents is reported to successfully relieve obstructions. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and outcome of urethral stent placement for treatment of BUO in dogs. ANIMALS: Eleven client‐owned animals with urethral stents placed for treatment of BUO. METHODS: Retrospective study in which medical records were reviewed in dogs diagnosed with BUO and treated with a metallic urethral stent. Data collected included signalment, cause of benign obstruction, procedure time, size and type of stent, complications, and short‐ and long‐term outcome. RESULTS: Eleven dogs with 15 urethral stents were included. Intraluminal urethral stent(s) relieved the obstructions in all dogs. Four dogs had 2 stents placed in separate procedures because of incomplete patency after treatment (n = 1), inadvertent compression of the stent (n = 1), or tissue ingrowth through the stent (n = 2). The median continence score after stent placement was 10 of 10 (range 3–10) with 6 dogs being continent, 3 mildly incontinent, and 1 each moderately and severely incontinent. All owners considered their dog to have an excellent long‐term clinical outcome with long‐term urethral patency. The median follow‐up time was 24 months (range 4–48). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Urethral stents appear to be an effective treatment for benign urinary obstructions. Moderate to severe incontinence developed in a minority (12.5%) of dogs. Stents relieved obstructions in all dogs with an excellent long‐term outcome

Quality of life in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy and their owners with an emphasis on breed: a pilot study

Epilepsy in dogs is a common chronic and serious disorder and may have an impact on the quality of life of the owners as well as the dogs themselves. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the QoL score of dogs suffering from idiopathic epilepsy and their owners and if possible, investigate whether a breed specific difference exists. Owners, either Dutch or Belgium, were asked to participate in a web based SurveyMonkey questionnaire. A total of 402 questionnaires representing 402 dogs with epilepsy were suitable for further analysis. Of the 402 dogs, 253 were males and 149 were females. Ninety-nine different breeds were represented. Fourteen breeds (177 dogs in total) were used to calculate breed specific scores; Australian Shepherd (n = 8), Beagle (n = 7), Belgian Tervuren dog (n = 9), Belgian Groenendaeler dog (n = 8), Border Collie (n = 38), Chihuahua (n = 9), Dachshund (n = 13), Drentsche Patrijshond (a Dutch partridge dog) (n = 14), French Bulldog (n = 12), Golden Retriever (n = 17), Labrador Retriever (n = 18), and Rottweiler (n = 12). For the Border Collie, there was a statistically significant correlation between “epilepsy related death,” the severity of the seizures (p < 0.001) and cluster seizures (p < 0.001). The quality of life of the Border Collie was scored lower compared to all other dogs (p = 0.02). There were three breeds that had a minimal decrease in the overall quality of life score compared to all other dogs: the Chihuahua (p = 0.03), Dachshund (p = 0.001), and Golden retriever (p = 0.01). The score for “caring for my epileptic dog decreases my own QoL” was high for the Border Collie, Boxer, French Bulldog, and Rottweiler, but was only found to be statistically significantly higher in the Border Collie (p = 0.01). Scores for the Golden Retriever (p = 0.04) and Labrador (p = 0.006) were lower. In conclusion, this study reports breed specific quality of life scores of dogs with epilepsy and their owners, and underlines that breed by itself, is also an important factor when managing epilepsy in dogs

Corrigendum: Phenotypic characterization of idiopathic epilepsy and epilepsy of unknown cause in Irish Setters

This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.106609

Phenotypic characterization of idiopathic epilepsy and epilepsy of unknown cause in Irish Setters

Canine epileptic seizures are common neurological symptom presenting to veterinary practice. Idiopathic epilepsy (IE) with a suspected genetic background has been reported in several dog breeds. Although it has been reported in the Irish Setter (IS), the phenotypic characteristics have not yet been described. The aim of this study was to characterize the phenotype of IE in this breed and to trace its mode of inheritance. Owners of IS were requested to fill in a questionnaire via the Dutch Irish Setter Club concerning the epileptic seizures in their dogs. The data was assessed retrospectively using descriptive statistics. Forty-eight privately owned IS dogs fulfilling tier I criteria for IE according to the International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force of both sexes were included in the study. The mean age of seizure onset was 41 months. Five of the dogs included in the study had an onset of seizures >6 years of age. These dogs were classified with epilepsy of unknown cause (EUC). Primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures were the most common type of seizure and were seen in almost all dogs. Cluster seizures were reported in 54% of the studied population. Most owners reported pre- (56%) and post-ictal (97%) signs in their dogs. A pedigree analysis of one subpopulation was performed and traced the lineage of 13 affected IS. A segregation analysis of this population rejected a simple autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. The present study supports the occurrence of IE and EUC in the IS. The results provide clinical insight into epileptic seizures in this breed and may be a starting point for further, including genetic, analysis

Pituitary function and morphology in dogs with primary hypothyroidism

Thyroid hormones have effect on almost every organ system in the body. This explains the wide range of clinical manifestations of primary hypothyroidism in dogs. The signs and symptoms are often nonspecific and the disease onset is insidious. It may therefore take a long time before hypothyroidism is diagnosed. On the other hand, canine hypothyroidism is frequently diagnosed erroneously because many non-thyroidal factors (e.g. drug therapy, concurrent disease) may result in a low plasma total thyroxine (TT4) concentration. The introduction of homologous immunoassays for measuring canine plasma thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations in the 1990s enabled the assessment of the canine pituitary-thyroid axis by measuring the hormone pair T4 and TSH, with the diagnosis of primary hypothyroidism being established on the basis of a low plasma TT4 concentration and a high plasma TSH concentration. However, in studies using the TSH-stimulation test as gold standard, it appeared that plasma TSH concentrations were not elevated in as many as a third of dogs with primary hypothyroidism. The main aim of the studies described in this thesis was to test the hypothesis that primary hypothyroidism leads to adenohypophyseal alterations that may explain the occurrence of low plasma TSH concentrations. It was hoped that these studies would also bring about better ways to diagnose primary hypothyroidism in dogs. From the studies described in this thesis the following main conclusions can be drawn: • In dogs with suspected hypothyroidism, in which measurement of plasma concentrations of thyroxine (TT4 and/or fT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) provides inconclusive results, measurement of thyroid 99mTcO4- uptake can discriminate between primary hypothyroidism and non-thyroidal illness. • In healthy dogs, TSH is secreted in a pulsatile manner with only small fluctuations. In dogs with primary hypothyroidism, the TSH pulses are more pronounced and may occasionally result in plasma TSH concentrations within the reference range for euthyroid dogs. • Primary hypothyroidism in dogs is associated with elevated plasma concentrations of growth hormone (GH) and of the growth factor IGF-I. This explains some of the physical changes of canine hypothyroidism, mimicking the syndrome of GH excess (acromegaly). • In contrast to healthy dogs, dogs with primary hypothyroidism respond to the administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) with an increase in plasma GH concentrations. • The pituitary function of dogs with primary hypothyroidism is characterized by: - Initially high plasma TSH concentrations that decrease with time to levels that may fall within the reference range for healthy dogs. A gradual loss of TSH response to suprapituitary stimulation precedes this lowering of basal plasma TSH concentrations. - Development of GH hypersecretion, persisting with time. - Hyposecretion of prolactin (PRL) in neutered bitches and PRL hypersecretion in sexually intact bitches during the luteal phase of the estrus cycle. • Pituitary enlargement with time, associated with thyrotrope hyperplasia, large vacuolated “thyroid deficiency cells”, and cells double-staining for TSH and GH