Generalised neuromuscular blockade after intraurethral administration of atracurium besilate in a male cat with urethral obstruction

A 4-year-old, entire, male, domestic long-haired cat was presented with an acute history of stranguria and dysuria and diagnosed with urolithiasis causing urethral obstruction. The patient was induced to general anaesthesia and several unsuccessful attempts to flush the uroliths retrogradely towards the bladder were made. An intraurethral administration of the neuromuscular blocking agent atracurium was performed as it has been reported to facilitate urethral catheterisation without any side effects. Respiratory arrest developed after 15 minutes from atracurium administration, which was promptly recognized and treated with mechanical ventilation. The absence of muscle contraction in response to a nerve stimulation confirmed a generalised muscle blockade. Approximately 35 minutes after, a muscle response to nerve stimulation appeared. Neostigmine combined with glycopyrrolate was administered resulting in complete recovery from neuromuscular blockade. In conclusion, the use of intraurethral atracurium can result in systemic absorption of the drug with subsequent generalised neuromuscular blockade.

Evaluation of Pax5 expression and comparison with BLA.36 and CD79αcy in feline non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Paired box gene 5 (Pax5) is a widely used B-cell marker for human and canine non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (nHL); however, in the literature there is only one case report using Pax5 in a cat B-cell lymphoma. The purposes of this study were to investigate the expression and detection of B-cell specific activator protein (BSAP) using a monoclonal anti-Pax5 antibody in feline nHL (FnHL) tissue samples to evaluate its diagnostic relevance as a B-cell marker. A total of 45 FnHL samples in 45 cats were evaluated. B-cell lymphoma was the most common immunophenotype (51.1%) for all the samples and T-cell the most common immunophenotype (64.3%) for the gastrointestinal (GI) form. Pax5 stained 82.6% of all B-cell lymphomas and no expression was found in any of the T-cell lymphomas. Anti-Pax5 antibody staining in FnHL is similar to that reported in human and canine counterparts and may offer an excellent B-cell marker in cats.

A retrospective analysis of chemotherapy switch suggests improved outcome in surgically removed, biologically aggressive canine haemangiosarcoma

Haemangiosarcoma (HSA) has an aggressive biological behaviour and carries a poor prognosis, with less than 10% of treated dogs surviving longer than 1 year. In this retrospective study a varied metronomic chemotherapy (MC) regimen preceded by adjuvant doxorubicin-based maximum-tolerated dose chemotherapy (MTDC) was compared with MTDC, in terms of efficacy [time to metastasis, (TTM) and survival time (ST)] and safety in dogs with biologically aggressive HSA. Dogs were eligible if they had no metastasis after MTDC and received either no further chemotherapy or MC maintenance. Twelve dogs received MTDC, and 10 received MC thereafter. Median TTM and ST were significantly longer for dogs receiving MTDC-MC (not reached versus 150 days, P = 0.028; and not reached versus 168 days, P = 0.030, respectively). Treatment was well tolerated. MTDC followed by MC is safe and suggests improved TTM and ST in dogs with surgically removed, biologically aggressive HSA that are treated in the microscopic setting.