Abstract. Little is known about the potential consequences of pancreatic tissue sampling in dogs. The goal of the present study was to evaluate changes in serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity and canine-specific pancreatic lipase after pancreatic fine-needle aspiration and surgical biopsy in 27 clinically healthy dogs. Presurgical, ultrasound-guided aspiration of the pancreas was performed with the dogs under sedation. Subsequently, all the dogs underwent intraoperative pancreatic fine-needle aspiration and clamshell biopsy. After euthanasia, pancreata were sectioned for histopathologic evaluation. Serum pancreatic enzyme levels were measured at 3 time points: baseline, after ultrasound-guided aspiration, and after intraoperative aspiration and biopsy. No significant differences were detected among mean serum pancreatic lipase values at any point (P . 0.05). Serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity did not change from baseline (18.2 6 2.1 mg/dl; mean 6 standard error) after ultrasound-guided aspiration (13.6 6 2.2 mg/dl) but increased significantly after intraoperative sampling (44.8 6 1.9 mg/dl; P , 0.0005). After surgical biopsy, the 20 dogs that had both ultrasound-guided and intraoperative sampling had a higher mean (SE) serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity (44.8 6 1.9 mg/dl) than the 7 dogs that had only intraoperative samples taken (36.4 6 4.1 mg/dl; P , 0.05). All 27 pancreata were grossly normal before intraoperative sampling. Pancreatic sampling was associated with increased serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity and mild, peracute necrosis, inflammation, hemorrhage, and fibrin deposition. Tissue damage from sampling was not sufficient to cause an elevation in canine-specific pancreatic lipase in the time frame evaluated. Further studies are needed to determine longer-term effects of pancreatic sampling on enzyme levels and clinical outcome.

Abstract. The diagnosis of pancreatic disease in small animal veterinary patients is complicated by nonspecific clinical signs and the limitations of diagnostic testing. Pancreatic cytology is a potential diagnostic tool, but safety and diagnostic yield are not well characterized in large patient cohorts. We hypothesized that pancreatic fine-needle aspiration (FNA) in dogs would frequently generate diagnostic-quality samples and subsequent adverse medical events would be uncommon. Ninety-two client-owned dogs undergoing pancreatic FNA for clinical diagnostic evaluation were identified retrospectively by a computer search for pancreatic cytology submissions. Archived slides were reviewed by a single board-certified clinical pathologist using a predetermined descriptive scheme. Medical records were reviewed for adverse events 48 hr following FNA, for concurrent procedures and diagnosis in patients with adverse events and for histology results. Diagnostic yield was calculated as the % cases in which a cytologic diagnosis could be achieved; correlation with histology or other confirmatory testing was determined when possible. Diagnostic yield was 73.5%, and the major pathologic process identified cytologically correlated with confirmatory testing in 10 out of 11 cases. There were 7 adverse events, all in dogs with significant comorbidities or undergoing other invasive procedures. Pancreatic FNA in dogs has a good diagnostic yield and a low rate of clinical complications in a large case series of dogs. Correlation of cytology and histology results was high in a limited number of cases.

The safety of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of the feline pancreas has not been reported. The incidence of complications following ultrasound-guided pancreatic FNA in 73 cats (pancreatic aspirate [PA] cats) with clinical and ultrasonographic evidence of pancreatic disease was compared with complications in two groups of matched control cats also diagnosed with pancreatic disease that either had abdominal organs other than the pancreas aspirated (control FNA, n = 63) or no aspirates performed (control no FNA, n = 61). The complication rate within 48 h of the ultrasound and/or aspirate procedure did not differ among the PA cats (11%), control FNA (14%) or control no FNA (8%) cats. There was no difference in rate of survival to discharge (82%, 84% and 83%, respectively) or length of hospital stay among groups. The cytologic recovery rate for the pancreatic samples was 67%. Correlation with histopathology, available in seven cases, was 86%. Pancreatic FNA in cats is a safe procedure requiring further investigation to establish diagnostic value.

Abstract. Canine Lyme disease is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi after transmission by an Ixodes tick, typically resulting in joint pain, fever and lethargy. Lyme nephritis is a poorly characterized syndrome associated with severe glomerular and tubular renal injury and poor clinical outcome in young to middle-aged dogs positive for exposure to B. burgdorferi. The aims of this study were to identify associations between natural exposure to B. burgdorferi and the presence of microalbuminuria in nonclinical young Labrador and Golden Retrievers and to compare two commonly used serologic tests available to document B. burgdorferi exposure: the Western blot and the commercial point-of-care C6 peptide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests. Microalbuminuria was assessed using a commercial point-of-care ELISA specific for canine albumin. Blood and urine samples from 268 asymptomatic Labrador and Golden Retrievers were included. Of these, 18.7% were positive for B. burgdorferi exposure according to the C6 ELISA; 21.2% were positive for natural exposure to B. burgdorferi and 11.5% for vaccinal antibodies according to the Western blot. The agreement rate was 93% between the two tests (kappa 5 0.78, P , 0.0001) for natural exposure. Urine from 6.1% of the dogs was positive for microalbuminuria. There was no association between microalbuminuria and exposure to B. burgdorferi based on results of a Western blot (P 5 0.57) or C6 ELISA (P 5 0.53). Microalbuminuria is likely not a consequence of B. burgdorferi exposure in young nonclinical Labrador and Golden Retrievers.