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Biomedical subjects

J A Charles

Publications and source records attributed to J A Charles.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Treatment of an acromegalic cat with the dopamine agonist L-deprenyl.

Acromegaly was diagnosed in a 14-year-old domestic short hair cat presented for investigation and management of apparently insulin-resistant diabetes mellitus. Treatment with L-deprenyl and high doses of insulin was commenced. The L-deprenyl did not reduce the requirement for high doses of insulin and did not appear to reduce the clinical signs associated with the disease. The cat was euthanased one year after initial presentation.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed2000

Cerebral cryptococcal granuloma in a cat.

A 7-year-old cat was presented for seizures. Cerebrospinal fluid cytology and serology were consistent with a diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. The cat was treated with clindamycin but seizures continued and additional neurological signs developed over 6 months. A mass lesion was identified in the left cerebral hemisphere using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The lesion enhanced after gadolidium and a tumour was considered likely. Histologically, the lesion proved to be a cryptococcal granuloma and retrospective serology confirmed that the cat had cryptococcosis at its initial presentation. This report provides the first description in the veterinary literature of the MRI appearance of a cerebral cryptococcoma and emphasises the importance of performing cryptococcal antigen determination in cats with signs of intracranial disease.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Hemihyperaesthesia and hyperresponsiveness resembling central pain syndrome in a dog with a forebrain oligodendroglioma.

A 4-year-old male Boxer was presented with neurological signs referable to a right forebrain lesion that was confirmed with computed tomography. Whilst characteristic signs of a unilateral forebrain lesion were observed, the dominant and striking finding was a right-sided hemisensory disturbance characterised by hyperaesthesia and hyperresponsiveness. Necropsy revealed a gelatinous mass confined to the right forebrain that was identified histologically as an oligodendroglioma. The lesion was centred on the internal capsule and involved ventral frontal and temporal lobes and the ventrolateral thalamus, including lateral and medial parts of the ventrocaudal nuclear region (ventrobasilar complex) of the thalamus. On clinical and neuroanatomical grounds, the case exhibited features in common with central pain syndrome in human patients with thalamic lesions. These included a somatosensory disorder of hyperaesthesia affecting an entire side of the head and body, behavioural manifestations consistent with spontaneous pain and a lesion involving the ventrobasilar complex. Of interest, the hemisensory abnormality was ipsilateral to the lesion, contrasting with central pain in humans, in which clinical signs are contralateral to analogous lesions. It is suggested that species-specific differences in spinal cord organisation of pain pathways, particularly the greater bilateral projection of nociceptive afferents to thalamic relay nuclei in carnivores, may account for this disparity. Notably, central pain is rare in human patients with brain tumours, even those affecting the thalamus, and this may also be the case in dogs.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Feline inductive odontogenic tumour in a Burmese cat.

A 7-month-old, male, Burmese cat was presented with an oral mass that had rapidly regrown following excisional biopsy 3 weeks earlier. The tumour was identified by histological examination as a feline inductive odontogenic tumour. A unilateral segmental mandibulectomy was performed. Although dental malocclusion resulted from mandibular drift to the operated side, the cat displayed minimal dysphagia post-operatively and there was no evidence of tumour regrowth 8 months after surgery. Feline inductive odontogenic tumour is a rare dental tumour described exclusively in cats under 3-years-of-age. Although histopathologically benign, feline inductive odontogenic tumour grows by expansion and can infiltrate underlying bone to cause considerable local destruction. This article is intended to increase awareness of this unusual tumour which, with complete surgical excision, carries a good prognosis. It also emphasises the importance of obtaining a histological diagnosis from oral mass lesions to direct appropriate therapy and to provide an accurate prognosis.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Fasciola hepatica infection in farmed emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae).

OBJECTIVE: To describe two cases of infection with Fasciola hepatica in young farmed emus, subacute and chronic fasciolosis and a response to treatment of the flock with albendazole. PROCEDURE: Gross lesions were found at necropsy and hepatic lesions in microscopic examination. The parasite recovered from one emu was identified by its morphological characteristics and an egg count reduction test was carried out after treatment of the flock with albendazole. RESULTS: Hepatic lesions resembling subacute and chronic fasciolosis of ruminants were identified. An adult fluke was recovered from the liver of one of the birds and was identified as F hepatica. The eggs of the fluke were irregular in shape and size. No fluke eggs were identifiable in faeces of live emus 10 days after treatment of the flock with albendazole at a dose of 10 mg/kg. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first reported case of infection with F hepatica in farmed emus and the first report of the occurrence of Fasciola infection is the class Aves. The irregular shape and size of the eggs may be attributable to infection of an aberrant host. Treatment with albendazole eliminated eggs from the faeces of the flock.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1994

Akabane virus.

Akabane virus, an arthropod-borne Bunyavirus, is the major cause of epizootics of congenital malformations in ruminants in Australia, Japan, Korea, and Israel, and is suspected to be a cause of sporadic outbreaks elsewhere. Blood-sucking insects, such as biting midges, transmit the virus horizontally to vertebrates. Climatic factors influence the seasonal activity and geographic range of the vector population and, therefore, occurrence of related disease. Inoculated ruminants seroconvert rapidly after a short subclinical viremia. Infection is of consequence only if ruminants are pregnant and not protected by adequate specific neutralizing antibodies. In naive pregnant animals, virus may spread hematogenously to replicate and persist in trophoblastic cells of placental cotyledons and subsequently invade the fetus. A distinct tropism for immature rapidly dividing cells of the fetal central nervous system and skeletal muscle results in direct virus-induced necrotizing encephalomyelitis and polymyositis. If fetuses survive, such injury may manifest as arthrogryposis, hydranencephaly, porencephaly, microencephaly, hydrocephalus, or encephalomyelitis at term. The earlier in gestation that fetal infection occurs, the more severe the lesions, reflecting the large population of vulnerable cells and lack of fetal immunocompetency at earlier stages of pregnancy. Injury during the period of critical cell migration and differentiation in organogenesis may substantially disrupt structural development in target organs. Late gestational infections cause nonsuppurative inflammation in the brain and spinal cord, premature birth, or fetal death with stillbirth or abortion. Affected neonates are nonviable. Control is by vaccination but is not always justified economically. Akabane viral infections must be differentiated from infections with other teratogenic viruses (including related Bunyaviruses), inherited conditions, and maternal intoxications. Diagnosis is made by serology and viral isolation.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ultrasound appearance of an equine testicular seminoma.

A 16-year-old thoroughbred stallion developed sudden swelling of the left testicle. The stallion had previously been regarded as a unilateral cryptorchid. Ultrasound examination of the left testicle revealed a diffusely heterogeneous parenchyma. The testicle was diffusely hypoechoic with ill defined regions of hyperechogenicity giving the appearance of hypoechoic nodules throughout the testicular parenchyma. No normal testicular tissue was identifiable. An echogenic band, representing a pseudocapsule could be seen surrounding the testicle. Histopathologic diagnosis a seminoma.

Animals↗