Cytological Findings of 140 Bile Samples from Dogs and Cats and Associated Clinical Pathological Data

BACKGROUND: Cholecystocentesis can be part of the diagnostic workup of hepatobiliary disease in small animals, but literature on cytological evaluation of bile is scant. OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic utility of cytological assessment of bile aspirates. ANIMALS: Fifty‐six and 78 client‐owned dogs and cats, respectively, with bile collected by cholecystocentesis and submitted to our diagnostic laboratory between 1999 and 2014. METHODS: Retrospective study describing cytological findings of bile, concurrent bacterial culture results, hematological and serum biochemical data, gallbladder biopsy results, as well as final diagnosis and complications after cholecystocentesis. RESULTS: Infectious agents were found in 30% of canine and 22% of feline bile aspirates, and inflammation in 5% and 19% respectively. Presence of microorganisms was more often detected on cytological examination (24%) than by culture (21%). The most common bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp., isolated from 14.8% and 6.7% of cultured samples respectively. Only increased canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity concentration (cPLI) was significantly associated with the presence of microorganisms, inflammatory cells, or both in bile. Clinically relevant complications of cholecystocentesis occurred in 2 dogs. The majority of the animals undergoing cholecystocentesis suffered from hepatic, pancreatic, gastrointestinal disease, or a combination thereof. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Cytological examination of bile is inexpensive and straightforward, and yields diagnostically relevant information that precedes and complements bacterial culture

Systemic hypertension in cats with acute kidney injury

Retrospective study of cats presenting to the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals, Royal Veterinary College with acute kidney injury between 2007 and 2015. Systolic blood pressure was measured using Doppler sphygmomanometry and systemic hypertension was defined pressures ê150 mmHg. Median systolic blood pressure measurement, grade of acute kidney injury (as defined by the International Renal Interest Society), serum creatinine on admission, anuria or oliguria, length of hospitalisation, survival to discharge and six‐month survival were all recorded

Evaluating the use of cytosine arabinoside for treatment for recurrent canine steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis

BackgroundRelapses in steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis (SRMA) are frequently observed but specific treatment protocols to address this problem are sparsely reported. Standard treatment includes prolonged administration of glucocorticoids as monotherapy or in combination with immunosuppressive drugs. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of cytosine arabinoside (CA) in combination with glucocorticoids for treatment of SRMA relapses in 12 dogs on a retrospective basis.MethodsDogs with recurrent episodes of SRMA and treated with a combination of CA and prednisolone were included. Information about clinical course, treatment response and adverse events was collected from medical records. Ethical approval was not required for this study.ResultsTen dogs (10/12) responded well to the treatment with clinical signs being completely controlled. One dog is in clinical remission, but still under treatment. One dog (8%) showed further relapse. Mean treatment period was 51 weeks. Adverse events of variable severity (grade 1–4/5) were documented in all dogs during treatment according to the veterinary cooperative oncology group grading. Three dogs developed severe adverse events. Laboratory findings showed marked changes up to grade 4. Diarrhoea and anaemia were the most often observed adverse events (6), followed by dermatitis (4), alopecia (3) and pneumonia (3). Including blood chemistry changes (13), 50 adverse events were found in total.ConclusionTreatment with CA and glucocorticoids resulted in clinical remission in 10/12 dogs, but a high incidence of adverse events occurred requiring additional measures. All adverse events could be managed successfully in all cases.</jats:sec

Reaction of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole with ethyl phenylpropiolate

The reaction of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole (I) with phenylpropiolic ester results in the formation of 2-phenyl-thiazino[3, 2-a]benzimidazoI-4-one (II). The structure 4-phenyl-2H-l-thiapyrimido[l,2-a]benzimidazol-2-one (III) assigned by earlier workers

Prohormones in the early diagnosis of cardiac syncope

Background--The early detection of cardiac syncope is challenging. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of 4 novel prohormones, quantifying different neurohumoral pathways, possibly involved in the pathophysiological features of cardiac syncope: midregional-pro-A-type natriuretic peptide (MRproANP), C-terminal proendothelin 1, copeptin, and midregionalproadrenomedullin. Methods and Results--We prospectively enrolled unselected patients presenting with syncope to the emergency department (ED) in a diagnostic multicenter study. ED probability of cardiac syncope was quantified by the treating ED physician using a visual analogue scale. Prohormones were measured in a blinded manner. Two independent cardiologists adjudicated the final diagnosis on the basis of all clinical information, including 1-year follow-up. Among 689 patients, cardiac syncope was the adjudicated final diagnosis in 125 (18%). Plasma concentrations of MRproANP, C-terminal proendothelin 1, copeptin, and midregional-proadrenomedullin were all significantly higher in patients with cardiac syncope compared with patients with other causes (P < 0.001). The diagnostic accuracies for cardiac syncope, as quantified by the area under the curve, were 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-0.84), 0.69 (95% CI, 0.64-0.74), 0.58 (95% CI, 0.52-0.63), and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.63-0.73), respectively. In conjunction with the ED probability (0.86; 95% CI, 0.82-0.90), MRproANP, but not the other prohormone, improved the area under the curve to 0.90 (95% CI, 0.87-0.93), which was significantly higher than for the ED probability alone (P=0.003). An algorithm to rule out cardiac syncope combining an MRproANP level of < 77 pmol/L and an ED probability of < 20% had a sensitivity and a negative predictive value of 99%. Conclusions--The use of MRproANP significantly improves the early detection of cardiac syncope among unselected patients presenting to the ED with syncope

Synthesis &amp; anticonvulsant activity of some condensed imidazoles

2-Mercapto-4,5-dihydroimidazole (la), 2-mercapto-3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine (lb) and 2-mer-_capto-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-7H-l,3-diazepine (1c) react with methyl iodide to give the corresponding mercaptomethyl derivatives (2a-2c). Reaction of these mercaptomethyl compounds with aminoacetaldehyde diethyl acetal followed by treatment with hydrochloric acid affords lH-2,3-dihydroimidazo[l,2-a]imidazole (4), 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroimidazo[l,2-a]pyrimidine (19) and 9H-5,6,7, 8-tetrahydroimidazo[l,2-a]-[l,3]-diazepine (22), respectively. These condensed imidazoles have been reacted with aromatic acid chlorides, isocyanates and isothiocyanates. The structure and anticonvulsant activity of these compounds are described