Background: There are few studies evaluating the natural history and prognostic variables in chronic mitral valve disease (CMVI) in a heterogeneous population of dogs.Objectives: To estimate survival and prognostic value of clinical and echocardiographic variables in dogs with CMVI of varying severity. Five hundred and fifty-eight dogs belonging to 36 breeds were studied.Methods: Dogs were included after clinical examination and echocardiography. Long-term outcome was assessed by telephone interview with the owner.Results: The mean follow-up time was 22.7 AE 13.6 months, and the median survival time was 19.5 AE 13.2 months. In univariate analysis, age48 years, syncope, HR4140 bpm, dyspnea, arrhythmias, class of heart failure (International Small Animal Cardiac Health Council), furosemide therapy, end-systolic volume-index (ESV-I)430 mL/m 2 , left atrial to aortic root ratio (LA/Ao)41.7, E wave transmitral peak velocity (Emax)41.2 m/s, and bilateral mitral valve leaflet engagement were associated with survival time when all causes of death were included. For the cardiac-related deaths, all the previous variables except dyspnea and EDV-I4100 mL/m 2 were significantly associated with survival time. Significant variables in multivariate analysis (all causes of death) were syncope, LA/Ao41.7 m/s, and Emax41.2 m/s. For cardiac-related death, the only significant variable was LA/Ao41.7.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Mild CMVI is a relatively benign condition in dogs. However, some clinical variables can identify dogs at a higher risk of death; these variables might be useful to identify individuals that need more frequent monitoring or therapeutic intervention.

Type of composite and filling technique affected the CS, μTBS, UTS, and mechanical properties of large Class II restorations. The eight-increments filling technique resulted in generally less CS with the same μTBS and UTS than was obtained with 16 increments, without affecting E and VH through the depth of the composites.

Glomerular lesions that develop in dogs during infection with Leishmania organisms can be classified histologically as mesangial glomerulonephritis, membranous glomerulonephritis, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and focal segmental glomerulonephritis. Tubulointerstitial histopathologic conditions were not observed as the primary lesion, despite being evident in 23 of 41 (55%) dogs. Use of SDS-AGE for qualitative evaluation of proteinuria and successive collection of specimens during renal biopsies following diagnosis of nonselective glomerular proteinuria provides the possibility for early identification of renal lesions.

Dilution of canine blood with HES 130/0.4 results in a thromboelastometric pattern consistent with hypocoagulation and this effect appears to result from a dose-dependent alteration in fibrinogen concentration and inhibition of platelet function. As this is an in vitro study, further in vivo investigations are necessary to confirm the results.

Feline morbillivirus was first identified in healthy and diseased stray cats captured in Hong Kong. Recently, it was demonstrated that the virus circulates within cat populations in Japan, Italy, Germany, and the USA. Importantly, an association between feline morbillivirus infection and chronic kidney disease was suggested by histological analysis of kidney tissue of infected cats. The aim of this study was to verify the presence and examine the genetic diversity of feline morbilliviruses associated with infections of domestic cats in Brazil. Seventeen cats without clinical manifestations of urinary tract diseases from a multi-cat household and 35 random client-owned cats admitted to the Teaching Veterinary Hospital for a variety of reasons were evaluated for paramyxoviral infection and the presence of uropathy. A fragment of the paramyxoviral L gene was amplified from urine samples using a reverse transcription semi-nested PCR assay. For the first time, we detected a feline morbillivirus strain that was genetically related to viral strains previously characterized in Japan in urine samples from cats in South America, in Brazil. This together with the recent description of feline morbillivirus identification within cat populations in the USA, suggests a possible widespread distribution of this viral agent on the American continent. Our data demonstrated feline morbillivirus RNA shedding mostly in the urine of cats without clinical, laboratorial, or ultrasonographic signs of urinary tract diseases. In contrast to previously published findings that associated feline morbillivirus infection with chronic kidney disease, we did not observe a clear relationship between feline morbillivirus RNA shedding in urine and kidney disease in the cats evaluated.

Data from this study indicate that dogs with moderate heart failure caused by CMVI have systolic dysfunction. Inadequate hypertrophy of the left ventricle may be, in part, responsible for this finding.

Bleaching with 35% hydrogen peroxide gel was more effective than with the 20% gel, without promoting significant adverse effects on enamel surface microhardness.

Wild canids and domestic dogs are the main reservoir of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused byLeishmania infantum (syn.: Leishmania chagasi). Serological diagnosis of VL is therefore important in both human and dog leishmaniasis from a clinical and epidemiological point of view. Routine diagnosis of VL is traditionally carried out by immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT), which is laborious and difficult to standardize and to interpret. In the last decade, however, several specific antigens of Leishmania infantum have been characterized, allowing the development of a recombinant-based immunoassay. Among them, the whole open reading frame encoding K9 antigen, the gene fragment encoding the repetitive sequence of K26, and the 3-terminal gene fragment of the kinesin-related protein (K39sub) were previously evaluated as diagnostic markers for canine leishmaniasis and proved to be independent in their antibody reactivity. Since sensitivity of serological test is usually higher in multiple-epitope format, in this study the relevant epitopes of K9, K26, and K39 antigens were joined by PCR strategy to produce the chimeric recombinant protein. The resulting mosaic antigen was found highly expressed in Escherichia coli and efficiently purified by affinity chromatography. Antigenic properties of this recombinant antigen were evaluated by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a panel of human and dog sera previously characterized by parasitological and/or serological techniques. Chimeric ELISA showed 99% specificity in both human (n ‫؍‬ 180) and canine (n ‫؍‬ 343) control groups, while sensitivity was higher in canine VL (96%, n ‫؍‬ 213) than in human VL (82%, n ‫؍‬ 185). Accordingly, concordance between IFAT and canine chimeric ELISA (k ‫؍‬ 0.95, 95% confidence interval ‫؍‬ 0.93 to 0.98) was higher than between IFAT and human chimeric ELISA (k ‫؍‬ 0.81, 95% confidence interval ‫؍‬ 0.76 to 0.87). Results suggest the potential use of this new antigen for routine serodiagnosis of VL in both human and canine hosts. Animal and human leishmaniases are parasitic infections caused by protozoan hemoflagellates belonging to the genus Leishmania.Parasites are transmitted by the bite of phlebotomine sand flies to the mononuclear phagocyte system of the vertebrate host, where the infecting promastigotes differentiate into and replicate as amastigotes. The geographical distribution and the spreading of the infection depend on the presence of sand fly vectors and of animal reservoirs (3).Wild canids and domestic dogs represent the main reservoir hosts of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL), playing a strategic role for diffusion and maintenance of the infection (25). Zoonotic VL is caused by Leishmania infantum (syn. Leishmania chagasi) (24) and spread in the Mediterranean basin, in the Middle East, and in Latin America.In the past decades, human factors and environmental changes have promoted the diffusion of the disease in areas originally not considered suitable for the spreading of leishmaniasis (9,11,32,...