Alba Galán

Clinical findings and progression of 10 cases of equine ulcerative keratomycosis (2004–2007)

Summary Ulcerative keratomycosis is a serious sight-threatening disease of horses and the veterinary literature is replete with cases of poor visual outcome following this condition. During a 3 year period, 10 horses were treated for confirmed keratomycosis at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) of the University of Cordoba (Spain). Ulcerative keratomycosis accounted for an average of 8.62% of the total equine ophthalmic admissions during this time and an average of 33.3% of horses were diagnosed with infectious keratitis. Fungi were diagnosed using cytology (n = 4) and/or culture (n = 8) and histopathology (n = 1). Aspergillus sp. was the most commonly isolated fungus. Medical therapy alone or combined medical and surgical treatment was utilised for therapy depending on the clinical condition. Miconazole 1% was the most common topical antifungal therapy employed. Median duration of treatment was 73.12 days. Records were evaluated to determine visual outcome and globe survival.

Fluorangiographic study of the ocular fundus in normal horses

PURPOSE To describe the protocol and appearance of fluorescein angiography (FA) in normal horses. ANIMALS A total of 25 healthy horses aged between 5 and 15 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS The horses were sedated with 15 microg/kg detomidine and 50 microg/kg butorphanol and dilated with topical tropicamide 1%. All angiograms were recorded after intravenous bolus injection of 10 mg/kg of fluorescein sodium solution. RESULTS Two successive angiographic phases could be discerned: the choriopapillary phase, starting at 46.95 +/- 9.48 s, and the retinal vascular phase, starting at 47.79 +/- 10.38 s. The retinal vascular phase was divided in three parts: filling phase, maximum fluorescence point, and fading phase. During the filling phase, the dye progressed into the retinal vessels, obtaining maximum fluorescence at 59.79 +/- 10.39 s, termed the maximum fluorescence point. The fading phase started immediately following the maximum fluorescence point. During this phase, vascular fluorescence decreased to complete reduction at 74.76 +/- 9.81 s. Also, areas of delayed choroidal filling, the presence of short retinal vessels in the ventral region of the optic disc, and a particular filling of the optic disc were also observed. CONCLUSIONS The normal angiographic sequence was described in horses. FA may be a useful method for studying the integrity of the blood-retinal barriers in horses.

Oligodendroglial Gliomatosis cerebri in a Poodle

Gliomatosis cerebri (GC) is a rare, diffusely infiltrating, glial cell tumour of neuroepithelial origin. This report describes a case of oligodendroglial GC in a 6-year-old male Poodle with central nervous system symptoms. Computed tomography revealed anomalous parenchyma density and ventricular asymmetry. Cerebrospinal fluid showed elevated protein (30 mg dL(-1)) and nucleated cell count (20 µL(-1)). Presumptive diagnosis of necrotizing meningoencephalitis was made. Because of rapid deterioration of the general condition of the animal, the dog was euthanized. Histologically there was an infiltration of round or ovoid neoplastic cells in the white matter of the left cerebral hemisphere and in leptomeninges. Immunohistochemistry showed that 80% of the neoplastic cells expressed Olig2 and some 50% expressed glial fibrilary acidic protein. On the basis of clinical, histological and immunohistochemical features, a diagnosis of oligodendoglial GC was done. This case represents the first report of a case of oligodendroglial GC in the canid.

Evaluation of spectral entropy to measure anaesthetic depth and antinociception in sevoflurane-anaesthetised Beagle dogs

The use of spectral entropy to determine anaesthetic depth and antinociception was evaluated in sevoflurane-anaesthetised Beagle dogs. Dogs were anaesthetised at each of five multiples of their individual minimum alveolar concentrations (MAC; 0.75, 1, 1.25, 1.5 and 1.75 MAC), and response entropy (RE), state entropy (SE), RE-SE difference, burst suppression rate (BSR) and cardiorespiratory parameters were recorded before and after a painful stimulus. RE, SE and RE-SE difference did not change significantly after the stimuli. The correlation between MAC-entropy parameters was weak, but these values increased when 1.75 MAC results were excluded from the analysis. BSR was different to zero at 1.5 and 1.75 MAC. It was concluded that RE and RE-SE differences were not adequate indicators of antinociception and SE and RE were unable to detect deep planes of anaesthesia in dogs, although they both distinguished the awake and unconscious states.

Presumed primary uveal melanoma with brain extension in a dog

A 13-year-old, female, mixed, cocker spaniel was examined for a unilateral exophthalmia and protruding mass in episcleral region of the right eye. Mode B ocular ultrasonography revealed a mass extended intraocular from anterior chamber to posterior pole without evidence of extraocular extension. A presumptive diagnosis of melanocytic tumour was made. A complete blood count and chemistry and thoracic radiographs did not show any abnormal changes. The recommended treatment was enucleation, and melanocytic nature of the tumour was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Three months after surgery, the animal showed a status epilepticus refractory to treatment. Computed tomographic examination of the brain revealed changes compatible with a tumour. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis was normal. Because of the poor clinical prognosis, the owners elected to have the dog euthanased.

Bilateral typical complete colobomas in a donkey: Retinographic and fluorangiographic description

An 18-year-old male donkey was referred with a history of blindness. On ocular examination a complete bilateral typical colobomatous defect involving iris, ciliary body, lens, choroid, retina and optic nerve was observed. An optic pit was presented at the temporal side of the right optic head. Ophthalmoscopic and fluorangiographic characteristics are described.

Odontogenic myxosarcoma of the jaw in a dog

TUMOURS in the mouth are common in dogs and cats, con-stituting 3 per cent to 6 per cent of all tumours in these species (Harvey and Emily 1993). Mouth tumours can be differentiated into odontogenic (most commonly benign) and non-odon-togenic (most commonly malignant) tumours. Three cases of odontogenic myxoma have been reported in the veterinary literature: in a horse (Chandra and others 1999), a primate (Shalev and others 1980) and a dog (Gupta and others 2005). However, odontogenic myxosarcoma has not been described. In human beings, odontogenic myxoma is more common, and 150 cases have been reported (Burt and Zawkowski 1995); odontogenic myxosarcoma is rare, and few cases have been described (Lamberg and others 1984, Pahl and others 2000).In dogs, myxosarcomas have been found in a variety of locations. Although these tumours have a similar anatomi-cal distribution to that of myxomas, the relationship between these two tumours is uncertain, due largely to the few studies that have characterised the morphological features of myxo-sarcomas (Maitra and others 2003). The transformation of the benign variant to the malignant variant of the tumour has not been described. Such transformations have been reported for fibromas to fibrosarcomas in human beings (Chan and others 1997). This short communication describes the investigation and treatment of an odontogenic myxosarcoma in a dog.A 14-year-old male Teckel was referred to the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Cordoba. The dog had an irregular mass on the right mandible (Fig 1) involving the region from the canine tooth to the second molar. The owner reported that he had first noticed the mass 12 months previ-ously, but in the past month the mass had grown quickly; the animal was lethargic and had halitosis and blood in its saliva. The mass had been partly resected four months previously at another clinic, and the referring veterinarian indicated that the dog had been treated systemically with corticosteroids (1 mg/kg prednisolone given orally once daily) without any improvement of the clinical signs until presentation to the hospital. The dog’s drinking and eating habits were normal or only slightly reduced. After the corticosteroid treatment had begun, the dog had shown polydipsia and polyuria but therapy did not improve the dog’s condition. The mandibular lymph nodes were not enlarged.Haematological analysis revealed normochromic and normocytic anaemia (2·4 10x12 red blood cells/l, normal range 5 x 10