Surgery
The Soft Tissue Surgery Team offer a referral service for a wide range of soft tissue surgery and related diagnostic investigation in dogs and cats.
Current Studies
Canine portosystemic shunts
Portosystemic shunts (PSS) are a congenital condition where an abnormal blood vessel diverts blood away from the liver leading to a build up of toxins. These toxins can lead to poor growth,digestive and urinary disorders and seizures among other clinical signs.
We are gathering data from clinical cases to establish the variability between different dogs and their abilty to respond to surgey. It is hoped that this study will help us to predict which dogs are likely to respond best to surgery and provide new options for improving treatment of this condition.
Print out study information here.
Canine elbow dysplasia.
Elbow dysplasia is a common disease in dogs and usually affects both elbows of large dogs such as Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers and Rottweilers. The condition is characterised by varying degrees of mismatch in shape of the bones of the elbow joint, along with bone and cartilage cracking and fragmentation. As the condition progresses osteoarthritis develops within the joint.
Despite the fact that this problem is well-recognised clinically, relatively little is known about the underlying cause or causes or how to grade the severity of the disease.
We would like to develop a test which allows us to understand the events occurring in the bone and cartilage and to give an indication of the severity of the disease. This would provide benefits both to the patient and the veterinarian.
Detection of Aspergillus galactomannan antigen in nasal aspergillosis
Nasal aspergillosis is a common cause of nasal discharge and epistaxis (nosebleed) in the dog; current diagnostic methods include radiography, computed tomography (CT), rhinoscopy, nasal biopsy serology and surgical exploration. However, definitive diagnosis is often challenging and in some cases it is difficult to prove a cure has been achieved as many of the abnormalities identified during diagnosis still remain.
Galactomannan is a component of the Aspergillus cell wall which is released during the growth of the fungus. Galactomannan antigen can be detected using an immunoenzymatic assay which has been found to have a high sensitivity and specificity in humans. It is hoped that using this assay in canine aspergillosis will provide a more definitive diagnosis a method for confirming successful treatment of the disease.