Background: The impact of pulmonary hypertension (PH) on right ventricular systolic function is difficult to assess. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) is an echocardiographic measurement of right ventricular systolic function and a strong predictor of outcome in human PH patients.Hypothesis/Objectives: Determine a reference range for TAPSE in healthy dogs, and quantify TAPSE in dogs with PH. It is hypothesized that TAPSE is lower in dogs with PH compared with a reference group, and decreases as PH worsens.Animals: Fifty normal dogs and 30 dogs with PH. Methods: TAPSE was measured by 2-dimensional echocardiography-guided M-mode from the left apical 4-chamber view. Peak systolic tricuspid valve regurgitation jet velocity was measured by continuous-wave Doppler to estimate right ventricular-to-right atrial pressure gradient. PH was subjectively classified as mild, moderate, and severe.Results: There was a curvilinear correlation between TAPSE and body weight. The upper and lower limits of the 95% reference interval were determined by quantile regression. Interobserver and intraobserver agreement was adequate with a coefficient of variation <10%. There were significant differences when comparing dogs with PH and the healthy group, as well as between the PH subgroups (P < .01), except between dogs with mild and moderate PH (P = .99). Only dogs in the severe PH group had TAPSE values that were mostly below the lower limit of the reference interval.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: TAPSE is easily obtainable with acceptable inter and intraobserver agreement. TAPSE is decreased in PH and below the reference interval in most dogs with severe PH.

IM injections of alfaxalone and butorphanol induced rapid, deep and short-lasting sedation. The mean differences after sedation were not clinically significant for most echocardiographic measurements.

Background While hematologic reference intervals (RI) are available for multiple raptorial species of the order Accipitriformes and Falconiformes, there is a lack of valuable hematologic information in Strigiformes that can be used for diagnostic and health monitoring purposes. Objectives The objective was to report RI in Strigiformes for hematologic variables and to assess agreement between manual cell counting techniques. Methods A multi‐center prospective study was designed to assess hematologic RI and blood cell morphology in owl species. Samples were collected from individuals representing 13 Strigiformes species, including Great Horned Owl, Snowy Owl, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Barred Owl, Great Gray Owl, Ural Owl, Northern Saw‐Whet Owls, Northern Hawk Owl, Spectacled Owl, Barn Owl, Eastern Screech Owl, Long‐Eared Owl, and Short‐Eared Owl. Red blood cell count was determined manually using a hemocytometer. White blood cell count was determined using 3 manual counting techniques: (1) phloxine B technique, (2) Natt and Herrick technique, and (3) estimation from the smear. Differential counts and blood cell morphology were determined on smears. Reference intervals were determined and agreement between methods was calculated. Results Important species‐specific differences were observed in blood cell counts and granulocyte morphology. Differences in WBC count between species did not appear to be predictable based on phylogenetic relationships. Overall, most boreal owl species exhibited a lower WBC count than other species. Important disagreements were found between different manual WBC counting techniques. Conclusions Disagreements observed between manual counting techniques suggest that technique‐specific RI should be used in Strigiformes.

Age, female sex, and 3 genera appeared to be positively associated with the presence of advanced atherosclerotic lesions in psittacine birds. This information may be useful in clinical assessment of the cardiovascular system and patient management. Reproductive diseases were the only potentially modifiable risk factor identified and could be a target for prevention in captive psittacine birds.

Clinical signs of liver lobe torsion in rabbits are often nonspecific and mimic those that are also generally detected with gastrointestinal stasis. Nonspecific clinical signs may result in pursuit of full‐body imaging such as computed tomography (CT). The aim of this multicenter, retrospective, case series study was to describe CT findings of liver lobe torsion in a group of rabbits. Computed tomography studies of six rabbits with confirmed liver lobe torsion by surgery or necropsy were evaluated. The caudate liver lobe was affected in six out of six rabbits and was enlarged, rounded, hypoattenuating, heterogeneous, and minimally to noncontrast enhancing, with scant regional peritoneal effusion. Precontrast, mean Hounsfield units (HU) of the torsed liver lobe (39.3 HU [range, 24.4‐48.1 HU]) were lower than mean HU of normal liver (55.1 HU [range, 49.6‐60.8 HU]), with a mean torsed:normal HU ratio of 0.71 (range, 0.49‐0.91). Postcontrast, mean HU of the torsed liver lobe (38.4 HU [range, 19.7‐48.9 HU]) were also lower than mean HU of normal liver (108.4 HU [range, 84.5‐142.0 HU]), with a lower postcontrast mean torsed:normal HU ratio of 0.35 (range, 0.14‐0.48) compared to precontrast. Mean HU of torsed liver lobes had little difference pre‐ and postcontrast (postcontrast HU 1.0 times the average precontrast HU [range, 0.81‐1.1]), and contrast enhancement of the torsed liver lobes was on average 50% lower than in normal liver. Liver lobe torsion should be considered in rabbits with an enlarged, hypoattenuating, heterogeneous, minimally to noncontrast enhancing liver lobe, particularly the caudate lobe, and scant regional peritoneal effusion.