veterinary orthopeady – Vets on the Balkans - an online journal for veterinarians from the Balkans

SECONDARY ALIMENTARY HYPERPARATHYROIDISM and its complications – our approach

November 11, 2019

Departments “Metabolic and endocrine disorders” and “Orthopedics” – veterinary clinics “Dobro Hrumvane”, Sofia, Bulgaria

The alimentary secondary hyperparathyroidism is not so rare as many specialists think. For period of only 9 months we diagnosed in our clinics 17 cases and had serious observations in other 9 cases (the owners didn’t agree to prove 100 % in Laboklin) in different stages of the problem evaluating. We present below our treatment protocol and two concrete complicated cases – both with healed patients but one not operated – and our consequences experience in cases with or without surgery.

The hyperparathyroidism is primary and secondary. The secondary could be renal – complication of chronic renal insufficiency, it is more often seen even in comparison to the primary – and alimentary: rarest but for sure not exotic. The alimentary variant is seen in young dogs and especially cats fed only or almost only with meat. The low calcium levels and the inadequate calcium/phosphor ratio in meat starts a multi-vector pathological process evaluating for a couple of weeks to following clinical picture: unwilling for moving, lameness, stiff walking, spontaneous fractures, face edemas, easily teeth removing or teeth loosening, spontaneous neurological deficit in different levels. The standard hematological and biochemical blood panels usually do not give any diagnose direction. It is common the right diagnose to be reached with delay because often the colleagues miss during the anamnestic phase to become well informed about the alimentary regime of the patient, X-rays are rarely made in the very beginning and usually the therapy starts with NSAIDS and general strengthening protocol.

This disease not rarely causes hind legs function insufficiency and neurological deficit, paradoxally not corresponding to and many times exceeding the found through imaging diagnostic bone (including vertebral) changes. It is not exotic OCD (even in cats) to be diagnosed later due to cartilage underlying bone and bone vessels malformation.

Most directing is the anamneses especially the alimentary regime of the young patient. Absolutely enough for 90 % sure diagnose is combination of anamneses, estimation of the bone geometry and density due to X-rays covering flat bones, spinal cord, mandibula, maxilla and blood levels of macro elements especially P. For 100 % sure diagnose we send blood hormon sample to Laboklin Germany. The differential diagnoses are not many and include some genetic or metabolic disorders.

Our newest therapeutic protocol, product of enough clinical experience and leading to fastest and completest healing includes:

Hospitalization of the patient in cage for maximal immobilization aiming to avoid pathological fractures and especially vertebral fractures.
Diet change to P-poor and Ca-rich: the variants are so many, ii is important the diet to be diverse and with enough vitamins. In most of the cases we start with renal diet combined with additional food components;
Calo-pet – zero P molecules and very adequate composition for this problem;
NEO-K9: not only because of the demonstrative bone healing stimulation but also very adequate against all cases of hyperphosphatemia – and in cases of alimentary hyperparathyroidism we have severe hyperphosphatemia as well as serious bone demineralization and decrease of their potential for resistance to physical forces and for healing;
Ipakitine – because of its ability to chelate and eliminate the phosphor
HyalOral – because of its adequate to the therapy (especially against intra-joints complications) composition and especially because of the gamma-oryzanol inside
NSAIDS – against pain and inflammation
Calciferol (Vitamin D3) in dosage 2 ng/kg/24h– please be very careful when using it because increases the resorption of calcium but also of phosphor. Should be added to the protocol only after the phosphor is already in normal blood levels or very close to them;
Sometimes after careful individual estimation – oral pure Ca human product for children or even injectable Ca vet product;
Often repeated biochemical including P and Ca blood monitoring (a big Thank you! to our trusted lab VetDiaLab for the precise and reliable work during the last 15 years), every-day neurological monitoring and checking the ability for urination, every-day check for rib and long bone fractures and regular (minimum every 8-10 days) X-ray follow-up of the geometry and healing of all fissures and fractures;
Therapy against the complications including the spontaneous fractures, eating difficulties because of jaw problems ets.

This algorithm leads to very fast and demonstrative health status improvement. Of course it is very important to estimate carefully when the patient is ready to get out of the cage. We recommend the bone fissues to be X-ray monitored every 5-10 days and all long-bone fractures to be operated especially those near the knee joints. The reason?: the long-bone fractures caused by SAHPT heal very often with malunion which is being well tolerated by young animals but many of them suffer when achieve adult/mature age. On the other hand we recommend vertebral fractures to be operated only in case of neurological deficit or pain. In all cases of eating difficulties esofageal probe and not manual assisted eating is recommendable.

Case 1: cat Darko, SAHPT complicated with two supracondylar femural fractures, operated with delay. We added Calciferol to the therapy protocol at the 7^th day when the blood phosphor decreased to normal levels. The owners asked us not to operate and to wait but as usual despide the cage rest after a couple of days the fragments geometry get worse and the healing would lead to malunion and may be to patellar luxation. The owners agreed to operate, the surgeries with implants of Mikromed were fast and simple (peri-operatively: Clavaseptin) and the case result is 100% healthy and extremely mobil cat:

Case two: cat Pisi, SAHPT complicated with fissure and fracture, not operated. The X-ray fissure (left humerus) follow up showed no need to operate and healed without problems. Unfortunately we didn’t receive permission to operate the fracture and as usual the result is serious malunion:

Conclusion: strict cage rest, strict food and therapeutical protocol, strict clinical and paraclinical monitoring and careful surgery estimation = successful outcome.

Tibial nerve peripheral nerve sheath tumor in dog

January 26, 2017

Loncar, DVM1
Dr Zoran Loncar
Hadzic, DVM2

M.Dragomirov, DVM2

1,2 Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Neurology, Veterinary Clinic Novak, Belgrade, Serbia

INTRODUCTION

An 8,5 years old miniature schnauzer dog was presented at the clinic with finding of right hind limb monoparesis and grade 1 lameness. CT diagnostic study was done but it was suggested that there was no visible lesions. MRI study shoved a lesion consistent with PNST. The dog was treated surgically and the tumor was excised completely with large margins. The dog recovered completely. The purpose of the article is to suggest that a lesion consisted with PNST distal to the stifle an elbow can be treated with large margins and very good motility of the limb afterwards. This type of pathology can be often missed with orthopedic conditions.

CASE HISTORY

A 10 kg BW, 8,5 years old miniature schnauzer was presented at the clinic with owners complain of lameness on right hind limb for last five months.

At previous vet the dog was submitted to complete orthopedic, radiography and CT study with no diagnosis after the diagnostic workout. The dog was treated with 20 days of NSAID therapy (carprofen 2mg/kg BID 10 days and the dosage was reduced by half for the next 10 days). There was no improvement so the dog was treated with prednisolone for 20 days SID with again very little improvement.

The dog doesn’t have any important data in medical history.

At the presentation in our clinic:

During the walk dog showed grade one lameness.

CT STUDY , Fig 1 and 2

At the clinical examination the dog showed normal proprioception but reduced withdraw reflex on right hind limb. During palpation region of gastrocnemius muscle was markedly painful. The rest of nurology and orthopedic examination was in within normal limits.

CT Study

Figure 1. and 2.

MRI SYUDY Fig 3

MRY STUDY- Fig 4

There is a focal dilation of a vascular structure, presumably a vein, caudal to the medial aspect of the right stifle. The vascular dilation/aneurism has a maximal diameter of 7.7 mm and extends over a distance of approximately 4 cm. Contrast filling of the dilated area is heterogeneous with some areas lacking contrast filling. The affected vessel is an anastomosis/branch between the caudal branches of the saphenous vein and the caudal proximal femoral vein.

MRI study:

Figure 3. T1+contrast: On the right limb at the level of tibial nerve there is a lesion with heterogeneous contrast intake in long contact with blood vessel. The lesion is 3 cm long in diameter.

Figure 4. T1+contrast: Lesion at the level of tibial nerve in close contact with saphenous vein and the caudal proximal femoral vein. Heterogeneous contrast intake.

Figure 5. Surgical field

The surgical approach was made from medial side at the level of proximal part of gastrocnemius muscle. The careful identification of blood supplies and nerve structure was needed. The healthy proximal and distal part of the nerve was identified and the excision with 3 cm margins has been done.

The dog was treated post operatively with antibiotics for 7 days (cephalexin 15mg/kg BID), fentanyl patch for 3 days, carprofen 2 mg/kg BID for 7 days, gabapentin since 3th day 20 days 10mg/kg TID.

Neurological exam has been done after 1,3,6 and 12 months. The only abnormal finding 6 and 12 months post op was longer ground phase during walk and reduced withdraw reflex.

DISCUSSION:

Tibial nerve is in charged for the motor function of caudal aspect of tibia and fibula. Deficit in function shows clinical signs that look similar to orthopedic conditions. Ground phase is longer, calcaneus drops distally more than in contralateral limb. Sometimes we can see plantigrade stance. Orthopedic conditions similar to these in term of signs are pathology of Achill’s tendon and tarsus and metatarsus.

PNST if at the distal part of peripheral nerves can be treated with good outcome. The reasons are fewer functions that lead in less of dysfunction of the limb, and good surgical margins. If PNST is localized at plexus or nerve root, 78% of dogs are going to be euthanized. The prognosis depends on localization and histopathology grading.

CONCLUSION

This article shows how close sometimes can be neurology and orthopedic clinical findings. Even if advanced imaging is available the cruciate information is localization of the lesion during the clinical examination. Further a right interpretation of images is necessary to define the lesion. PNST is an important differential diagnosis in investigation of distal extremities dysfunctions.

TTA cases , Dr Goran Tomisic from Belgrade, Serbia

May 15, 2016 Leave a Comment

Neapolitan mastiff

Neapolitan mastiff

In our experience most of the patients with TTA surgery are large breed dogs between 25-45kg. We heve had experienced to work with gient dog (70kg Neapolitan mastiff) and very small dog (6kg Poodle). Furthermore, the expectations before surgery were that the bigger dog will be a problem for setting the implants, but after both surgeries we were surprised how difficult was to set all implants into the smaller dog. Making the plane of TTA surgery for small dog our biggest concern before the surgery of poodle was how we would cut the bone, but that part was easiest of the surgery. Placing the cage and screws was the real challenge. The toughest job was insert the fork into the TTA plate that took most of the time of surgery. Overall, TTA would be the first chouse for ACL rupture in dogs.

Double plated TPLO in oversized dogs

December 4, 2015 Leave a Comment

Dr. Tsvetan Ivanov

Dr. Tsvetan Ivanov, “Dobro hrumvane!” veterinary clinics, Sofia, Bulgaria

Introduction

The most common cause of rear limb lameness in the dog is rupture of the cranial (anterior) cruciate ligament. This derangement results in degenerative changes (osteoarthritis) in the stifle (knee) joint, including cartilage damage, osteophyte (bone spur) production, and meniscal injury. The Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) has proven effective in returning these deranged stifles to full function.

Developed by Dr. Barclay Slocum, TPLO was a radical procedure for addressing canine ACL injuries. Now in existence for over 20 years, the surgery has proven itself, time and time again, to be an extremely effective long term solution for addressing cruciate ligament injury in dogs.

Part of the positive indications for TPLO are:

Bodyweight:

TPLO is most frequently performed in medium to giant breeds. Greater bodyweight is a positive indicator for selection of TPLO as a treatment option. The procedure can be performed and on small dogs and even cats, but then should be make exact discretion the potential benefits and complications.

Age:

Cruciate ligament degeneration is seen increasingly in young large breeds, in some cases within their first year.

Minimising osteoarthritis in the long term is a priority for these young dogs. Many surgeons believe that this leads to the TPLO being the technique of choice, although long term comparative studies continue to investigate this. These cases frequently show bilateral degeneration, and partial cruciate ruptures are common.

The procedure is good option for dogs over 6 months of age, with progression of ossification of proximal tibial growth plates.

Partial ligament rupture.

Cases of partial ligament rupture show a very rapid iprovement following TPLO. Importantly, they typically do not progress to complete ligament failure as TPLO acts to neutralise the forces on the cranial cruciate ligament.

TPLO is widely accepted to give the best functional outcome, in the short to medium term, and has enabled working/performance animals to return to high functional standards.

Excessively sloping tibial plateau:

Average plateau angles range from 22°-26°, but angles from 15° are still remain a TPLO candidate with good post-operative outcome. However, in cases with an increased tibial plateau angle, TPLO has proved particularly beneficial.

Case studies have advocated TPLO as the technique of choice for even small breeds with excessive tibial plateau slopes. In some of those cases the amount of angular correction required leads to a Wedge resection technique being favoured over the Slocum(curved-cut) TPLO.

Cranially translocated tibial crest.

Occasionally the stifle will rest with the tibia cranially translocated following cruciate rupture the tibial crest is palpated cranially, the patella tendon is less distinct, and the first movement during cranial drawer is backwards, often associated with a dramatic degree of movement. In some authors experience these cases may return to cranial translocation with significant recurrence of lameness weeks after extracapsular lateral fabella suture placement. In those cases, in a limited number of procedures, TPLO have shown better outcomes.

Overall, the good TPLO candidate is medium to large breed dog, from 6 months and plus, active, with need of full functional restoration of the limb.

The Case:

This is the case of Hades. He is oversized cane corso, 6 years old, bodyweight is 78 kg and he suffers from hip arthrosis of the right hip in result of hip dysplasia and chondroma of right carpal bones. He came with lameness on the right rear limb from few weeks, which is worsening. He had and positive “sit and drawer tests.

This is video of his walk:

The diagnosis was cranial cruciate ligament rupture. My favorite procedure is TPLO, but definitely no one can be sure that, the standard procedure can give good outcome with this size dog. Furthermore, the dog have and two other problems on the right side. We were afraid from implant failure so we decided to make insurance. Instead only the TPLO plate we placed and second DCP 3.5 mm plate. The original idea was to use 3.5 screws for the 2-nd plate, but because of the risk from caudal cortex fracture the most distal three screws was 2.7 mm

Immediately postoperator

Immediately postoperator

Those are intraoperative pictures and the immediately post-op pictures:

surgery

surgery

surgery

Video 14 day after the surgery:

X-ray pictures 45 days after the surgery:

45 days post op – LL

45 days post operator

And this is the final result – 6 months after the surgery:

240 days post op

Video:

Discussion:

The TPLO remains one of the best surgically ways to manage CrCrLR even in oversized dogs, even with concomitant diseases of the locomotor system.

The most important thing is every surgeon to make optimal assessment of the patient’s status and to remember that every case is specific.

TTA surgery for Cranial Cruciate ligament rupture

December 1, 2015 Leave a Comment

VETERINARY CLINIC TOMMY Belgrade, Serbia

VETERINARY CLINIC TOMMY

Belgrade, Serbia

Surgery specialist DVM Goran Tomišić