A. vasorum infection causes only a mild increase in PAP following inoculation and anthelmintic therapy. The absence of important PH may in part be explained by the recruitment of AV shunts in the presence of vascular obstructive disease. TDI echocardiographic parameters may be more sensitive to detect mild changes in RV function than conventional parameters.

Objective  To evaluate the accuracy of a new cardiac output monitor (FloTrac/Vigileo), originally designed for humans, in dogs. This pulse contour cardiac output monitoring system cannot be calibrated and measures cardiac output (Q̇t) from a standard arterial catheter. Study design  Prospective experimental trial. Animals  Eight adult Beagle dogs weighing 13.1 (9.8–17.1) kg [median (range)]. Methods  Anaesthesia in the dogs was maintained using isoflurane. A pulmonary artery catheter and a metatarsal arterial catheter (22 gauge) were placed. Cardiac output was measured simultaneously 331 times by thermodilution and FloTrac technique. A broad spectrum of Q̇t measurements was achieved through alterations of isoflurane concentration, administration of propofol boluses and dobutamine infusions. Agreement between the methods was quantified with Bland Altman analysis and disagreement was assessed with linear mixed models. Results  Median (10th and 90th percentile) cardiac output as measured with thermodilution was 2.54 (1.47 and 5.15) L minute−1 and as measured with FloTrac 8.6 (3.9 and 17.3) L minute−1. FloTrac measurements were consistently higher with a mean bias of 7 L minute−1 and limits of agreement of −3.15 to 17.17 L minute−1. Difference between the methods was most pronounced in high Q̇t measurements. Linear mixed models showed an estimated difference between the two methods of 8.05 (standard error 1.18) L minute−1 and a significant interaction between mean arterial pressure and method. Standard deviation (4.45 higher) with the FloTrac method compared to thermodilution was increased. Conclusion  Compared to thermodilution measurements, the FloTrac system was influenced to a higher degree by arterial blood pressure, resulting in consistent overestimation of cardiac output. Clinical Relevance  The FloTrac monitor, whose algorithms were developed based on human data, cannot be used as an alternative for thermodilution in dogs.

BackgroundLeptospirosis is a re-emerging bacterial zoonosis caused by spirochetes of the genus Leptospira. Severe disease has been reported in dogs in Europe despite vaccination with bivalent Leptospira vaccines. Recently, a tetravalent canine Leptospira vaccine (Nobivac® L4) was licenced in Europe. The goal of this study was to investigate clinical signs, microscopic agglutination test (MAT) titres, haematology, blood biochemistry, cardiac (c) Troponin I levels and echocardiography before and after vaccination with this tetravalent vaccine. Forty-eight healthy dogs were prospectively enrolled and vaccinated twice, 3–4 weeks apart (T0 and T1). Before vaccination (T0) and 16–31 days after the second vaccination (T2), MAT (n = 48), haematology (n = 48), blood biochemistry (n = 36) and cTroponin I measurements (n = 29) were performed, and MAT was repeated 347–413 days after the second vaccination (T3, n = 44). Echocardiography was performed before the first and second vaccination (T0 and T1, n = 24).ResultsMild and transient clinical signs within 5 days following the first and second vaccination occurred in 23% and 10% of the dogs, respectively. Before the first vaccination (T0), all dogs showed negative MAT titres for the tested serovars except for Canicola (50% with titres 100–400). At T2, positive MAT titres to the serovars Canicola (100%), Australis (89%), Grippotyphosa (86%), Bratislava (60%), Autumnalis (58%), Copenhageni (42%), Pomona (12%), Pyrogenes (8%) and Icterohaemorrhagiae (2%) were found. Median to high titres (≥ 400) were most common to the serovar Canicola (92%) and less common to the serovars Australis (41%), Grippotyphosa (21%), Bratislava (12%), Autumnalis (4%), Pyrogenes (4%) and Pomona (2%). At T3, positive MAT titres (titre range: 100–400) were found in 2–18% of the dogs to serovars of the vaccine serogroups and in 2–18% of the dogs to the non-vaccine serovars Pomona, Autumnalis, Pyrogenes and Ballum. Haematology, blood biochemistry, cTroponin I levels and echocardiography results did not change significantly following vaccination.ConclusionsClinical signs following vaccination with Nobivac® L4 were transient and mild in all cases. Seroconversion differed considerably among individual dogs and among the vaccine serogroups.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-017-1056-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Intoxication with the beta2-agonist Albuterol may lead to immediate signs of beta-adrenergic stimulation like excitation, tachypnea and tachycardia. Furthermore, it typically causes severe hypokalemia, which then leads to muscle weakness and which predisposes to ventricular arrhythmias. We describe a dog where albuterol intoxication caused runs of fast paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia that persisted after normalization of the hypokalemia. Based on a markedly elevated serum troponin I level acute myocardial damage was identified as cause of the tachyarrhythmia. Repeated Troponin I measurements and Holter-ECGs were the means to document complete cure.

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