Twenty-five cases of retrobulbar tumors are presented and discussed. Affected animals were dogs and cats (average 10.7 years). No breed or sex predisposition was noted. The most common clinical signs were exophthalmos (84%), conjunctival hyperemia (40%), protrusion of the nictitating membrane (28%), exposure keratitis (20%) and fundus abnormalities (20%). Diagnostic tools included fine needle aspiration, radiography, ultrasonography, computed tomography and histology. Surgical treatment by orbitotomy or exenteration was combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy in some cases. The prognosis was poor with low survival times: 1 month in cats, and 10 months in dogs, with a high rate of euthanasia (35%) at the time of diagnosis.

Systemic hypertension was diagnosed in 58 of 188 untreated cats referred for evaluation of suspected hypertension-associated ocular, neurologic, cardiorespiratory, and urinary disease, or diseases frequently associated with hypertension (hyperthyroidism and chronic renal failure). Hypertensive cats were significantly older than normotensive subjects (13.0 Ϯ 3.5 years versus 9.6 Ϯ 5.0 years; P Ͻ .01), and had a greater prevalence of retinal lesions (48 versus 3%; P Ͻ .001), gallop rhythm (16 versus 0%; P Ͻ .001), and polyuria-polydipsia (53 versus 29%; P Ͻ .01). Blood pressure was significantly higher (P Ͻ .001) in cats with retinopathies (262 Ϯ 34 mm Hg) than in other hypertensive animals (221 Ϯ 34 mm Hg). Hypertensive cats had a thicker interventricular septum (5.8 Ϯ 1.7 versus 3.7 Ϯ 0.64 mm; P Ͻ .001) and left ventricular free wall (6.2 Ϯ 1.6 versus 4.1 Ϯ 0.51 mm; P Ͻ .001) and a reduced diastolic left ventricular internal diameter (13.5 Ϯ 3.2 versus 15.8 Ϯ 0.72 mm; P Ͻ .001) than control cats. Left ventricular geometry was abnormal in 33 of 39 hypertensive subjects. No significant difference was found in age or blood pressure at the initial visit between cats that died or survived over a 9-month period after initial diagnosis of hypertension. Mean survival times were not significantly different between hypertensive cats with normal and abnormal left ventricular patterns. Further prospective studies are needed to clearly identify the factors involved in survival time in hypertensive cats.Key words: Blood pressure; Cat; Echocardiography; Left ventricular hypertrophy; Systemic hypertension. Feline systemic arterial hypertension is a frequent cardiovascular disorder, especially in aged animals, most often secondary to other diseases, such as chronic renal failure and untreated hyperthyroidism.1,2 However, the prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension in a large population of cats is at the moment not precisely known. Previous published studies concerning feline systemic hypertension had several limitations: the number of animals involved was relatively low (n ϭ 24), 2 the studied cats were only compared to normotensive healthy cats, 1,2 and only specific subpopulations (ie, cats with renal failure or hyperthyroidism) were studied.1 Cutoff values for the diagnosis of hypertension vary between studies. In some cases, 1 hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure higher than a normal control group. Although these values may be valid for some purposes, in most clinical cases systemic hypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure greater than 160 or 170 mm Hg. 3Hypertension predisposes eyes, kidneys, brain, and cardiovascular system to injury in both human and veterinary patients. Among the clinical consequences in cats, cardiac hypertrophy is described in most detail.2,4,5 The prognostic value of changes in left ventricular structure or function remains unknown. In human hypertensive patients, systemic arterial hypertension is associated with a wide spectrum of left ventricular geometric patterns ...

Results of our study suggest the SIS graft may be an effective alternative surgical treatment to the traditional conjunctival grafts commonly used to repair melting ulcers in dogs and cats. The advantages of using a SIS graft include good corneal transparency, preservation of corneal integrity and maintenance of vision.

A retrospective study of 155 cases (114 dogs). The breed, sex and age at the time of the first and opposite onset of nictitans gland prolapse were recorded. Long-term follow-up with a minimum of one-year duration was performed by telephone conversations. One hundred and fourteen dogs representing 155 nictitans gland prolapses were included. 75.4 per cent of the first prolapse occur before one year of age. Unilateral nictitans gland prolapse was observed in 64 per cent of cases. When the condition was bilateral, it occurred simultaneously in 41.4 per cent. When it was bilateral but not simultaneous (24/41), the opposite gland prolapse occurred within three months in 70.8 per cent of the cases. Five breeds were most commonly affected by the bilateral condition: French bulldog, shar pei, great dane, English bulldog and cane corso.

Purpose: To evaluate CD4 þ helper functions and antitumor effect of promiscuous universal cancer peptides (UCP) derived from telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). Experimental Design: To evaluate the widespread immunogenicity of UCPs in humans, spontaneous T-cell responses against UCPs were measured in various types of cancers using T-cell proliferation and ELISPOT assays. The humanized HLA-DRB1 Ã 0101/HLA-A Ã 0201 transgenic mice were used to study the CD4 þ helper effects of UCPs on antitumor CTL responses. UCP-based antitumor therapeutic vaccine was evaluated using HLA-A Ã 0201-positive B16 melanoma that express TERT. Results:The presence of a high number of UCP-specific CD4 þ T cells was found in the blood of patients with various types of cancer. These UCP-specific T cells mainly produce IFN-g and TNF-a. In HLA transgenic mice, UCP vaccinations induced high avidity CD4 þ T H 1 cells and activated dendritic cells that produced interleukin-12. UCP-based vaccination breaks self-tolerance against TERT and enhances primary and memory CTL responses. Furthermore, the use of UCP strongly improves the efficacy of therapeutic vaccination against established B16-HLA-A Ã 0201 melanoma and promotes tumor infiltration by TERTspecific CD8 þ T cells. Conclusions:Our results showed that UCP-based vaccinations strongly stimulate antitumor immune responses and could be used to design efficient immunotherapies in multiple types of cancers. Clin Cancer Res; 18(22); 6284-95. Ó2012 AACR.