Efficacy of serial ultrasonographic examinations in predicting return to play in agility dogs with shoulder lameness

The aim of this study is to investigate the use of shoulder ultrasound as a method of predicting the likelihood of returning to competition in agility dogs with shoulder teno-muscular injuries after a standardised rehabilitation protocol. Thirty-two agility dogs with a clinical and ultrasonographic diagnosis of shoulder teno-muscular injury were included in a prospective study with physical and ultrasound examinations at the time of diagnosis (T0) and at two (T2), four (T4) and six (T6) months; during this period, the dogs received rehabilitation treatments. The endpoint of the study was to obtain information regarding participation in agility competitions 12 months after diagnosis, based on telephone interviews with the owners. The clinical lameness score (CLS) and the ultrasound lesion score (ULS) were used as outcome measurements. The CLS indicated partial recovery from a shoulder injury at T2 (78%), while the ULS indicated no satisfactory recovery at T2 in any patient. At 4 months, the CLS alone was not a valuable predictor of full recovery from a shoulder injury in agility dogs. Relative Risk indicated that, at T2, ultrasound was 23.8 times more valuable in identifying a shoulder lesion as compared to clinical lameness score (CLS), and it was 2.53 times more valuable at T4

Oxidative metabolism of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and serum opsonic activity in chronic renal failure

Luminol-amplified chemiluminescence was used to study the oxidative metabolism of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), in resting state and in response to opsonized zymosan, in 65 patients with different degrees of chronic renal failure (CRF) or on regular dialysis treatment (RDT). Every patient was compared on the same day with a normal subject. Furthermore, the serum opsonic activity was evaluated, cross-matching zymosan opsonized by serum from CRF-RDT patients and normals with PMN from CRF-RDT patients and normals. PMN resting chemiluminescence showed a progressive increase inversely related to the glomerular filtration rate, and it remained high in patients on RDT. Zymosan-activated chemiluminescence indicated a deficit in phagocytosis for PMN of patients with a glomerular filtration rate lower than 10 ml/min, persisting in RDT patients. The serum opsonic activity was always significantly lower in CRF and in RDT patients than in the control group; this defect was already present in patients with mild renal impairment. Our findings suggest that PMN from CRF or RDT patients have an increased reactive oxygen metabolite production in the resting state that may cause cell and tissue damage; the opsonization impairment and the decreased PMN phagocytic activity contribute to increased vulnerability to infection in these patients

Cutaneous Innervation In Chronic-Renal-Failure Patients - An Immunohistochemical Study

Most chronic renal failure patients suffer from generalized pruritus. An involvement of cutaneous nerve terminals in the pathogenesis of uremic pruritus has been suggested. Skin specimens from 24 uremic patients and 10 healthy subjects were processed with an indirect immunofluorescence method to investigate the presence and distribution of a number of neuronal markers and neuropeptides. No difference was found between the two groups in the distribution pattern of the positive nerve fibres. However, a reduction in the total number of skin nerve terminals in the uremic patients was detected. No correlation could be found between the immunohistochemical findings and the clinical features. Our results suggest that the skin innervation is altered in most chronic renal failure patients, possibly as a consequence of neuropathy