Publications (129) View all
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Article: Evaluation of a training course in focused echocardiography for noncardiology house officers.
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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a training course in focused echocardiography can improve the proficiency of noncardiology house officers in accurately interpreting cardiovascular disease and echocardiography findings in dogs entering the emergency room setting. DESIGN: Prospective, blinded, educational study. SETTING: University veterinary teaching hospital. STUDY SUBJECTS: House officers underwent training in focused echocardiography. Fifteen dogs, including normal dogs and dogs with stable congenital or acquired cardiac disease, were used as study subjects during the laboratory session. INTERVENTIONS: A 6-hour curriculum on focused echocardiography was developed that included didactic lectures, clinical cases, and hands-on echocardiography. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Pre- and postcourse written examinations were administered to participants. House officers attended didactic lectures that were subsequently followed by a hands-on laboratory session and practical examination, which involved performing transthoracic echocardiography on dogs with and without cardiovascular disease. Twenty-one house officers completed the focused echocardiography training course. Written examination scores were 57 ± 12% before and 75 ± 10% after training (P < 0.001). Following the course, 97% of participants in the practical examination were able to obtain the correct right parasternal short- or long-axis view. Posttraining, most participants correctly identified pleural effusion (90%) and pericardial effusion (95%) and discriminated normal atrial size from atrial enlargement (86%). However, successful identification of a cardiac mass, volume status, and ability to recognize a poor quality study as nondiagnostic remained relatively low. Most trainees responded that the length of hands-on laboratory training was too abbreviated and that the course should be > 6 hours. CONCLUSION: A focused echocardiography training course improved knowledge and yielded acceptable proficiency in some echocardiographic findings commonly identified in the emergency room. This training course was not able to provide the skills needed for house officers to accurately assess fluid volume status, identify cardiac masses, ventricular enlargement or hypertrophy, and certain cardiac diseases.Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001). 05/2013; -
Article: RECOVER evidence and knowledge gap analysis on veterinary CPR. Part 4: Advanced life support.
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ABSTRACT: To systematically evaluate the evidence of the effect of advanced life support techniques on outcome in veterinary cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and to outline knowledge gaps. Standardized, systematic evaluation of the literature, categorization of relevant articles according to level of evidence and quality, and development of consensus on conclusions for application of the concepts to clinical practice. Academia, referral practice, and general practice Sixteen population, intervention, control group, outcome questions were evaluated to determine if recommendations could be made concerning drug therapy, including vasopressors, vagolytics, corticosteroids, reversal agents, buffer therapy, and correction of electrolyte disturbances. Electrical defibrillation strategies as well as other advanced interventions such as open-chest CPR, impedance threshold devices, and special considerations regarding anesthesia-related cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) were also investigated. There is strong evidence supporting the use of standard-dose (0.01 mg/kg) epinephrine in CPR, as well as early electrical defibrillation for animals experiencing CPA due to ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia, preferentially using a biphasic defibrillator. For CPA due to certain causes and with the availability of advanced postcardiac arrest support, open chest CPR is preferred. Many knowledge gaps regarding other pharmacologic and advanced therapies were identified, and further studies are recommended to better systematically address these questions.Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001). 06/2012; 22 Suppl 1:S44-64. -
Article: RECOVER evidence and knowledge gap analysis on veterinary CPR. Part 7: Clinical guidelines.
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ABSTRACT: To present a series of evidence-based, consensus guidelines for veterinary CPR in dogs and cats. Standardized, systematic evaluation of the literature, categorization of relevant articles according to level of evidence and quality, and development of consensus on conclusions for application of the concepts to clinical practice. Questions in five domains were examined: Preparedness and Prevention, Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support, Monitoring, and Post-Cardiac Arrest Care. Standardized worksheet templates were used for each question, and the results reviewed by the domain members, by the RECOVER committee, and opened for comments by veterinary professionals for 4 weeks. Clinical guidelines were devised from these findings and again reviewed and commented on by the different entities within RECOVER as well as by veterinary professionals. Academia, referral practice and general practice. A total of 74 worksheets were prepared to evaluate questions across the five domains. A series of 101 individual clinical guidelines were generated. In addition, a CPR algorithm, resuscitation drug-dosing scheme, and postcardiac arrest care algorithm were developed. Although many knowledge gaps were identified, specific clinical guidelines for small animal veterinary CPR were generated from this evidence-based process. Future work is needed to objectively evaluate the effects of these new clinical guidelines on CPR outcome, and to address the knowledge gaps identified through this process.Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001). 06/2012; 22 Suppl 1:S102-31. -
Article: Kaolin-activated thromboelastography in echocardiographically normal cats.
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ABSTRACT: To determine reference values for kaolin-activated thromboelastography in echocardiographically normal cats. 30 healthy cats without evidence of cardiomyopathy on echocardiographic examination. All cats underwent echocardiographic examination, the findings of which were reviewed by a board-certified cardiologist. Cats that struggled (n = 10) received mild sedation with butorphanol and midazolam IM to permit phlebotomy without interruption in jugular venous blood flow. Blood samples were collected for analysis of thromboelastography variables, PCV, total solids concentration, platelet count, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, fibrinogen concentration, and antithrombin concentration. All 4 thromboelastography variables had < 5% mean intra-assay variability. Mean values were as follows: reaction time, 4.3 minutes; clotting time, 1.6 minutes; α angle, 66.5°; and maximum amplitude, 56.4 mm. Compared with nonsedated cats, cats that required sedation had a significantly shorter clotting time and greater α angle, whereas reaction time and maximum amplitude were not significantly different. Kaolin-activated thromboelastography was a reliable test with unremarkable intra-assay variability in echocardiographically normal cats. Sedation may affect certain thromboelastography variables, but the effect is unlikely to be clinically important. It remains unknown whether subclinical cardiomyopathy has a significant effect on thromboelastography variables in cats.American Journal of Veterinary Research 06/2012; 73(6):775-8. · 1.27 Impact Factor -
Article: Development and evaluation of a questionnaire for assessment of health-related quality of life in cats with cardiac disease.
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ABSTRACT: To develop, validate, and evaluate a questionnaire (Cats' Assessment Tool for Cardiac Health [CATCH] questionnaire) for assessing health-related quality of life in cats with cardiac disease. Prospective study. 275 cats with cardiac disease. The questionnaire was developed on the basis of clinical signs of cardiac disease in cats. A CATCH score was calculated by summing responses to questionnaire items; possible scores ranged from 0 to 80. For questionnaire validation, owners of 75 cats were asked to complete the questionnaire (10 owners completed the questionnaire twice). Disease severity was assessed with the International Small Animal Cardiac Health Council (ISACHC) classification for cardiac disease. Following validation, the final questionnaire was administered to owners of the remaining 200 cats. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was good, and the CATCH score was significantly correlated with ISACHC classification. For owners that completed the questionnaire twice, scores were significantly correlated. During the second phase of the study, the CATCH score ranged from 0 to 74 (median, 7) and was significantly correlated with ISACHC classification. Results suggested that the CATCH questionnaire is a valid and reliable method for assessing health-related quality of life in cats with cardiac disease. Further research is warranted to test the tool's sensitivity to changes in medical treatment and its potential role as a clinical and research tool.Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 05/2012; 240(10):1188-93. · 1.79 Impact Factor
