Background: Pancreas-specific lipase is reported to aid in diagnosing acute pancreatitis (AP) in dogs but has not been rigorously evaluated clinically.Hypothesis/Objectives: To describe variability of disease in dogs with suspected clinical AP, and to evaluate accuracy of 2 pancreatic-specific lipase immunoassays, Spec cPL (SPEC) and SNAP cPL (SNAP), in diagnosing clinical AP. We hypothesized that SPEC and SNAP provide better diagnostic accuracy than serum amylase or total lipase.Animals: A total of 84 dogs; 27 without AP and 57 with clinical signs associated with AP. Methods: Multicenter study. Dogs were prospectively enrolled based upon initial history and physical examination, then retrospectively classified into groups according to the likelihood of having clinical AP by a consensus of experts blinded to SPEC and SNAP results. Bayesian latent class analyses were used to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of SPEC and SNAP.Results: The estimates for test sensitivities and specificities, respectively, ranged between 91.5-94.1% and 71.1-77.5% for SNAP, 86.5-93.6% and 66.3-77.0% for SPEC (cutoff value of 200 lg/L), 71.7-77.8% and 80.5-88.0% for SPEC (cutoff value of 400 lg/L), and were 52.4-56. 0% and 76.7-80.6% for amylase, and 43.4-53.6% and 89.3-92.5% for lipase.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: SNAP and SPEC have higher sensitivity for diagnosing clinical AP than does measurement of serum amylase or lipase activity. A positive SPEC or SNAP has a good positive predictive value (PPV) in populations likely to have AP and a good negative predictive value (NPV) when there is low prevalence of disease.

This consensus statement on chronic hepatitis (CH) in dogs is based on the expert opinion of 7 specialists with extensive experience in diagnosing, treating, and conducting clinical research in hepatology in dogs. It was generated from expert opinion and information gathered from searching of PubMed for manuscripts on CH, the Veterinary Information Network for abstracts and conference proceeding from annual meetings of the American College of Veterinary Medicine and the European College of Veterinary Medicine, and selected manuscripts from the human literature on CH. The panel recognizes that the diagnosis and treatment of CH in the dog is a complex process that requires integration of clinical presentation with clinical pathology, diagnostic imaging, and hepatic biopsy. Essential to this process is an index of suspicion for CH, knowledge of how to best collect tissue samples, access to a pathologist with experience in assessing hepatic histopathology, knowledge of reasonable medical interventions, and a strategy for monitoring treatment response and complications.

Fifty dogs with pheochromocytoma were identified in a retrospective study of a 9-year period. For 24 of 50 dogs (48%). the tumor was an incidental finding during necropsy or surgery. Presenting signs were referrable to the nervous system in 7 of the 26 symptomatic dogs (27%); were referrable to the cardiopulmonary system in 7 of 26 dogs (27%); or were nonspecific, reflecting general systemic disease, in 1 7 of 2 6 dogs (65%). Abnormal clinical findings were highly varied but were also generally referrable to the cardiopulmonary and nervous systems. Six of 7 dogs (86%) evaluated were hypertensive (systolic range, 1 6 4 to 325 mm Hg; diastolic range, 1 1 0 to 1 9 8 mm Hg). Serum biochemical findings were nonspecific, although 11 of 39 dogs (28%) were hypercholesterolemic. Abdominal fluid samples were analyzed in 6 dogs; 3 were nondiagnosheochromocytomas (Greek; phaios: dusky, chroma: P color) are catecholamine-secreting tumors of neuroectoderm-derived chromaffin cells. They are classified as amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation (APUD) cell tumors or APUDomas, and hence have the potential to secrete a variety of polypeptide hormones. They most often arise from the adrenal medulla, but can occur at extra-adrenal sites. Pheochromocytomas can be benign or malignant, and may be functionally active or When physiologically active, pheochromocytomas cause a paraneoplastic syndrome associated with excess epinephrine and norepinephrine ~ecretion.'.~-~.' This syndrome is characterized by episodic weakness, restlessness, tachycardia, hypertension, and collapse.Review of the literature revealed few clinical case and pathological reports2s4-* and two small series of suggesting that these tumors are uncommon in dogs and very rare in cats. The purpose of this study was to characterize the clinicopathologic features of pheochromocytoma in 50 dogs. Materials and MethodsMedical records at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital were searched for all dogs and cats presenting between January 1980 and March 1989. From 50,857 hospital entries and 4,076 necropsies, 50 dogs and no cats with a histological diagnosis of pheochromocytoma were identified. Each record was reviewed, and information was recorded for signalment; history; physical examination; and clinicopathologic, radiographic, histopathologic, and necropsy findings. Data were compiled and summarized. Tu- (54%).mors were staged using the World Health Organization's TNM classification of tumors in domestic animals.'"

Background: The quality of histopathology slides of endoscopic biopsies from different laboratories varies, but the effect of biopsy quality on outcome is unknown.Hypothesis: The ability to demonstrate a histologic lesion in the stomach or duodenum of a dog or cat is affected by the quality of endoscopic biopsy samples submitted. More endoscopic samples are needed to find a lesion in poor-quality tissue specimens.Animals: Tissues from 99 dogs and 51 cats were examined as clinical cases at 8 veterinary institutions or practices in 5 countries.Methods: Histopathology slides from sequential cases that underwent endoscopic biopsy were submitted by participating institutions. Quality of the histologic section of tissue (inadequate, marginal, adequate), type of lesion (lymphangiectasia, crypt lesion, villus blunting, cellular infiltrate), and severity of lesion (normal, mild, moderate, severe) were determined. Sensitivity of different quality tissue samples for finding different lesions was determined.Results: Fewer samples were required from dogs for diagnosis as the quality of the sample improved from inadequate to marginal to adequate. Duodenal lesions in cats displayed the same trend except for moderate duodenal infiltrates for which quality of tissue sample made no difference. Gastric lesions in dogs and mild gastric lesions in cats had the same trend, whereas the number of tissue samples needed to diagnose moderately severe gastric lesions in cats was not affected by the quality of tissue sample.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: The quality of endoscopically obtained tissue samples has a profound effect on their sensitivity for identifying certain lesions, and there are differences between biopsies of canine and feline tissues.

Dogs with metastatic or primary LTs should be considered for TLL, particularly for small masses positioned away from the hilus in the left caudal lung lobe.

Long-term prognosis was guarded after biliary surgery in dogs. However, dogs that survived the early postoperative period had good long-term prognosis. Dogs with pancreatitis had poor prognosis. Overall, the prognosis was worse for dogs that underwent a biliary diversion, compared with dogs that did not.

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