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The aim of this study was to describe the changes in the resistance index (RI) and systolic/diastolic ratio (S/D) of the uterine arteries during mid-pregnancy abortion induction in the dog. Sixteen 30-35 day pregnant bitches were randomly assigned to either a pharmacological protocol to interrupt gestation (n = 8) or were used as untreated control group (n = 8). Doppler assessments of uterine arteries blood flow were carried out before the initiation of the protocol and then every other day up to abortion (treated group) or parturition (control group). All treated bitches aborted 6 +/- 1.2 days after initiation of the treatment (while none of the non-treated bitches aborted). Pre-treatment RI and S/D did not differ between groups (p > 0.2) while average post-treatment indexes were (mean +/- SD): 0.62 +/- 0.1 vs 0.53 +/- 0.1 (p < 0.01) and 2.96 +/- 0.9 vs 2.23 +/- 0.3 (p = 0.01), for the treated and non-treated group respectively. Correlations between days to abortion and RI or S/D were 0.75 (p < 0.01) and 0.79 (p < 0.01) and, -0.78 (p < 0.01) and -0.73 (p < 0.01) for the treated and non-treated groups respectively. In the treated group, correlations between serum progesterone (P(4)) concentrations and RI and S/D were -0.76 (p < 0.01) and -0.59 (p < 0.01) respectively. It is concluded that, during induction of abortion, RI and S/D of uterine arteries progressively increased while P(4) decreased.

SummaryDioctophymosis is a parasitic disease occasioned by the so-called "giant kidney worm", Dioctophyme renale, a nematode with an indirect life cycle. This parasite's definitive host is the mink, Mustela vison, though numerous wild and domestic mammals as well 1 as man can serve as final hosts. The worms also can be in ectopic locations in the body.We surveyed 692 canines by ecography, urine sampling, surgery, necropsy, and clinical examination and diagnosed 244 cases of dioctophymosis (35.3%). Of the cases of dioctophymosis identified, 30.7% were obtained by ecography, 45.9% by urinalysis, and 17.6% by both those techniques -in addition to positive findings through surgery (2.5%), necropsy (2.5%), and the spontaneous elimination of the parasites (0.8%). Cases of dioctophymosis were observed in animals as young as 4 months of age up to 15 years.The frequency of D. renale diagnosis throughout the sampling period varied significantly. There was a statistically significant association between risk factors (swimming in the river, eating frogs, fish or eels, drinking ditch water) and the prevalence of infection. It was discussed the period missing after infection in canines.