Background Infective endocarditis (IE) in dogs is associated with severe disease and a high case fatality rate but often presents with nonspecific clinical signs. Hypothesis/Objectives Serum concentration of cardiac troponin‐I (cTnI) is elevated in dogs with IE and can differentiate dogs with IE from dogs with other diseases with similar clinical features. Concentration of serum cTnI is negatively correlated with survival time in dogs with IE. Animals Seventy‐two client‐owned dogs; 29 with IE, 27 with stage‐B myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD), and 16 with immune‐mediated disease (IMD). Methods Retrospective clinical cohort study. Concentration of serum cTnI was measured in all dogs at time of diagnosis. Clinical findings and echocardiographic interpretation were also recorded. Statistical analyses included Kruskal‐Wallis test, pairwise Mann‐Whitney U tests, receiver operator characteristic, and Cox proportional hazards. Results Serum concentration of cTnI was significantly higher in the IE group (0.69 ng/mL [0.03‐80.8]) than in the MMVD (0.05 ng/mL [0.02‐0.11], P < .001) and IMD groups (0.05 ng/mL [0.03‐0.57], P < .001). Increased cTnI was a moderately accurate predictor of IE (area under the curve 0.857 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.745‐0.968, P < .001). A cTnI cutoff of 0.625 ng/mL had 100% specificity (95% CI 90%‐100%) and 52% sensitivity (95% CI 33%‐70%) in this study sample. There was no association between cTnI concentration and survival time in dogs with IE (hazard ratio 1.013, 95% CI 0.993‐1.034, P = .2). Conclusions and Clinical Importance Cardiac troponin‐I concentrations are higher in dogs with IE compared to dogs with preclinical MMVD or IMD. In dogs with a compatible clinical presentation, serum cTnI concentrations >0.625 ng/mL are supportive of IE.

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Background: Heart murmurs are detected commonly in apparently healthy cats during routine physical examination, and Doppler echocardiography ultimately is required to identify the source of flow turbulence causing the murmur. However, in some cases, the origin of the murmur cannot be identified on echocardiographic examination, even by experienced clinicians. The application of gentle pressure with the ultrasound transducer against the chest wall of a cat can induce temporary narrowing of the mid-right ventricular (RV) lumen, causing blood flow turbulence even in the absence of cardiac abnormalities.Objectives/Hypotheses: To evaluate the effect of pressure of the ultrasound transducer against the chest wall of cats during echocardiography (provocative testing) on RV blood flow. The main hypothesis is that provocative testing can increase RV outflow velocity and cause flow turbulence. The second hypothesis is that the effect of this maneuver is independent of changes in heart rate during testing.Animals: Sixty-one client-owned, apparently healthy cats with heart murmurs on physical examination.Methods: Retrospective review of echocardiographic examinations of 723 cats presented for investigation of a heart murmur.Results: Outflow systolic velocity increased from 1.05 ± 0.26 to 1.94 ± 0.51 m/s during provocative testing (P < .0001); no correlation was found between RV outflow peak velocity and heart rate during provocative testing (P = .34; r = 0.1237). Conclusions and Clinical Relevance:Right ventricular outflow tract obstruction and associated heart murmur can be iatrogenically induced in apparently healthy cats by increasing pressure on the right chest wall with an ultrasound probe. K E Y W O R D S cardiology, cardiovascular, dynamic obstruction, echocardiography, feline, heart murmur, iatrogenic Abbreviations: Ao, aorta; DRVOTO, dynamic right ventricular outflow tract obstruction; LA, left atrium; LVH, left ventricular hypertrophy; RV, right ventricle/ventricular.

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OBJECTIVESIn human medicine the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a predictor of severity and outcome in communityacquired pneumonia, with higher prognostic accuracy than traditional infection markers. This study aims to assess NLR utility in predicting outcome in canine pneumonia as compared with other routine haematological parameters and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) scores. METHODSWe retrospectively analysed clinical and laboratory characteristics of canine pneumonia patients seen from July 2011 to December 2016. Inclusion criteria were a clinical and radiographic pneumonia diagnosis, plus reference laboratory haematology at diagnosis. Cases receiving steroids were excluded. The NLR, tWBC, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, %-bands and % of cases diagnosed with SIRS were compared between survivors and non-survivors. RESULTSTwo hundred cases were retrieved; 49 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, 34 (69%) survived to discharge, and 39 could be SIRS scored. The NLR (median ± SD) did not differ significantly between the survivors (12.4 ± 13.9) and non-survivors (16.9 ± 12.9)(p=0.306), neither did tWBC or neutrophil count. Survivors had a lower %-bands (1.0 ± 1.9) than non-survivors (5.0 ± 8.4, p=0.00), and higher lymphocyte count (0.93 ± 1.3 vs 0.67 ± 0.96) (p=0.04). The %-survived did not differ significantly between those with (33) and without (6) SIRS (61% and 83% respectively)(p=0.286), nor did the NLR (17.2 ± 14.2 and 10.6 ± 7.7 respectively)(p=0.094). STATEMENT (CONCLUSIONS)Unlike in human medicine, neither NLR nor SIRS scores were prognostic for outcome in this cohort of canine patients with pneumonia. However survivors had a lower %-bands and higher lymphocyte count than non-survivors.