Smartphone-based digital stethoscope for phonocardiography and electrocardiography
USER-ALT Tommaso Vezzosi and others , University of Pisa , Italy
Cardiac auscultation is valuable in the early detection of heart disease , but the technique relies on the skill and auditory ability of the clinician . Owing to the limitations of traditional technology , a number of digital devices have been developed . The authors evaluated the usefulness of a new smartphone-based digital stethoscope that can simultaneously record phonographic and one-lead electrocardiographic ( ECG ) data in cats and dogs . The audio files and ECG traces from 99 dogs and nine cats were compared with the findings from conventional auscultation and ECG . The new system showed good diagnostic accuracy in detecting heart murmurs , gallop sounds , ventricular premature complexes and bundle branch blocks . They suggest that the technology could provide a useful screening tool for heart sound abnormalities and cardiac arrythmias .
The Veterinary Journal https :// doi . org / 10.1016 / j . tvjl . 2023.105987
Identification of FeLV infection in cats through ‘ wavy ’ changes in their whiskers
USER-ALT Masataka Morishita and others , Niihama Animal Hospital , Ehime , Japan
Feline leukaemia virus ( FeLV ) is one of the most important viral pathogens of cats worldwide . Infection is normally diagnosed by IFA , ELISA or PCR-based laboratory tests . The authors noticed that there was a correlation between seropositivity for FeLV and the appearance of wave-like changes in the whiskers of feline patients at their practice . They explored this observation in tests on 358 cats at their practice , including 56 animals with the wavy changes in their whiskers . They found that 89.3 % of this group ( 50 cats ) were serologically positive for FeLV . The changes were associated with narrowing , degeneration and tearing of the hair medulla , together with mild infiltration of mononuclear cells , but with no evidence of necrotic changes .
BMC Veterinary Research https :// doi . org / 10.1186 / s12917-023-03610-7
Surgical interventions and outcomes in feline trauma patients
USER-ALT Corey Fisher and others , Colorado State University , Fort Collins , USA
Trauma is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in small animal patients . Despite the frequency of admissions of such cases to veterinary clinics , there is little published data on the outcomes of surgery for traumatic injuries , particularly in cats . The authors examined the records of 251 feline trauma patients treated in a university hospital , for either scheduled operating room procedures or emergency room treatment . The most common treatments performed were mandibular fracture stabilisation and internal fixation for long-bone fractures . Overall , they found that surgical intervention improved survival rates in both groups , but there were no differences in mortality rates between the two surgery services .
Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care https :// doi . org / 10.1111 / vec . 13291
16 Veterinary Nursing Journal