Endoscopic FB removal is associated with a low overall complication rate with bone FBs and bodyweight of less than 10 kg as significant risk factors.

BackgroundA novel flash glucose monitoring system (FGMS) (FreeStyle Libre, Abbott, UK) was recently developed for humans. It continuously measures the interstitial glucose (IG) concentrations for 14 days.ObjectivesTo assess the clinical and analytical accuracy of the FGMS in diabetic dogs.AnimalsTen client‐owned diabetic dogs on insulin treatment.MethodsProspective and observational study. The FGMS was placed on the neck for up to 14 days. During the 1st–2nd, 6–7th, and 13–14th days from application, the IG measurements were compared with the plasma (EDTA) glucose (PG) concentrations analyzed by a reference hexokinase based method.ResultsThe application and the use of the FGMS were apparently painless, easy, and well tolerated by all dogs. Mild erythema at the site of the application was found in 5/10 dogs at the end of the wearing period. A good correlation between IG and PG concentrations (rho = 0.94; P < .001) was found. The FGMS was 93, 99, and 99% accurate at low, normal, and high blood glucose concentrations. Mean ± standard deviation difference from the reference method was 2.3 ± 46.8 mg/dL.Conclusion and clinical importanceThe FGMS is easy to use and is accurate for IG glucose measurement in diabetic dogs.

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.

Background: Little information is available about the association between bronchomalacia and historical or clinicopathologic data. Also, studies applying an endoscopic classification scheme that differentiates between static and dynamic bronchial collapse and based on a scoring system are lacking.Objectives: To describe the clinical presentation of bronchomalacia in dogs, to classify endoscopic findings, and to evaluate associations among historical, clinicopathologic data, and endoscopic findings.Animals: Fifty-nine client-owned dogs with an endoscopic diagnosis of bronchomalacia. Methods: In this retrospective study, medical records were analyzed and video documentation was reviewed to assign a score to endoscopic findings. Univariate analysis was performed on categorical variables organized in contingency tables, and a stepwise logistic regression model was used for multivariate analysis.Results: Of the 59 dogs included in the study, 2 were affected by static bronchial collapse (SBC), 35 by dynamic bronchial collapse (DBC), and 22 by both SBC and DBC. The association between SBC and DBC was more frequently seen in the dogs with higher body weight, pulmonary hypertension, a bronchial type of radiographic pattern, and nodularity at endoscopic examination. Thirty-one dogs were presented with tracheomalacia and bronchomalacia; an association emerged between these concurrent disorders in dogs living indoors. Multivariate analysis of the endoscopic scores showed a correlation between DBC severity and cough duration.Conclusion and Clinical Importance: Results of this study provide evidence for 2 different types of bronchial collapse. Endoscopic scoring scheme has proved to be promising in the bronchomalacia classification, although further evaluation of its applicability in larger canine populations is needed.

BackgroundThe microbiota of the bovine upper respiratory tract has been recently characterized, but no data for the lower respiratory tract are available. A major health problem in bovine medicine is infectious bronchopneumonia, the most common respiratory syndrome affecting cattle. With this study, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize and compare the microbial community composition of the upper and lower respiratory tracts in calves.ResultsThe microbiota of the upper (nasal swab [NS]) and the lower (trans-tracheal aspiration [TTA]) respiratory tracts of 19 post-weaned Piedmontese calves with (8/19) and without (11/19) clinical signs of respiratory disease, coming from six different farms, was characterized by 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding. A total of 29 phyla (29 in NS, 21 in TTA) and 305 genera (289 in NS, 182 in TTA) were identified. Mycoplasma (60.8%) was the most abundant genus identified in both the NS (27.3%) and TTA (76.7%) samples, followed by Moraxella (16.6%) in the NS and Pasteurella (7.3%) in the TTA samples. Pasteurella multocida (7.3% of total operational taxonomic units [OTUs]) was the most abundant species in the TTA and Psychrobacter sanguinis (1.1% of total OTUs) in the NS samples. Statistically significant differences between the NS and the TTA samples were found for both alpha (Shannon index, observed species, Chao1 index, and Simpson index; P = 0.001) and beta (Adonis; P = 0.001) diversity. Comparison of the NS and TTA samples by farm origin and clinical signs revealed no statistical difference (P > 0.05), except for farm origin for the NS samples when compared by the unweighted UniFrac metric (P = 0.05).ConclusionsUsing 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we characterized the microbiota of the upper and lower respiratory tracts of calves, both healthy individuals and those with clinical signs of respiratory disease. Our results suggest that environmental factors may influence the composition of the upper airway microbiota in cattle. While the two microbial communities (upper and lower airways) differed in microbial composition, they shared several OTUs, suggesting that the lung microbiota may be a self-sustaining, more homogeneous ecosystem, influenced by the upper respiratory tract microbiota.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40168-017-0372-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.