Page 10 - Clinical Connections- Summer 2021

Research News

VETCOMPASS VIRTUAL VET CLINIC APP
The RVC has launched a novel interactive app, offering veterinary the immediate Covid crisis, the app is anticipated to remain a
students a mixed reality veterinary learning experience from their significant contributor to the learning of undergraduates.
mobile phones, allowing them to apply real-world thinking and The app builds on real-world experiences of veterinary students
rules in a virtual environment. by replicating typical caseloads and clinical first-opinion veterinary
The VetCompass Virtual Vet Clinic app is free to download practice scenarios, in a readily accessible virtual world. Students
on both iOS and Android. It was developed within the RVC’s can use the structured clinical skills approaches provided in
VetCompass research team, with the collaboration of the the app to develop their veterinary clinical reasoning and case
University of Surrey’s School of Veterinary Medicine. It was management skills, using clinical information sourced from
launched as part of the RVC’s structured response to the anonymised and randomised data on over 20,000 dogs. The app
disruption of real-world placements in veterinary practices due was conceived by Dr Dan O’Neill (RVC) and Dr Neerja Muncaster
to the pandemic. The app aims to fill some of the gaps caused (University of Surrey) and complements a series of other novel
by restriction of full access to the clinical environment. Beyond innovations developed within the VetCompass programme.

THE FUTURE OF CANNINE EPILEPSY MACHINE-LEARNING TO DIAGNOSE
RESEARCH CUSHING’S SYNDROME
A new RVC study has identified improving drug management and Researchers within the VetCompass team have developed
the development of new antiepileptic medication as key research machine-learning algorithms with the potential to support and
priorities to benefit dog owners, general practice veterinarians and improve diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome in dogs.
specialist veterinary neurologists in treating idiopathic epilepsy in Cushing’s is one of the most common endocrine diseases
dogs. The study highlights the importance of ensuring the views affecting dogs. Affected animals are also at increased risk
of owners are integrated into the direction of future research of developing other diseases, such as diabetes mellitus,
planning. hypertension and pancreatitis, making a fast and accurate
Analysing the results of an online survey, the team was able diagnosis even more important.
to identify the areas of canine epilepsy research deemed most Obtaining a timely diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome is crucial
important by 414 owners of dogs with epilepsy, veterinary in providing the best possible course of treatment. However,
neurologists and general practice veterinarians. It also assessed the condition can be challenging to diagnose given that the
how these views changed from 2016 to 2020. Key findings clinical signs are often non-specific, such as polyuria, polydipsia,
include: increased appetite, a potbellied appearance, muscle weakness,
• The research areas with the highest perceived importance alopecia, panting and lethargy.
were improving existing drug management of epilepsy, the Diagnosis confirmation has historically required multiple blood
development of new medications and improving the education tests, but this process can be time consuming, expensive and
of vets regarding epilepsy does not always provide accurate results. With PhD funding from
• The research areas ranked as the highest priorities were the Dechra Veterinary Products, the researchers sought to address
development of new antiepileptic medications, identifying these diagnostic challenges by using anonymised data from 939
genetic causes of epilepsy, and non-drug management of dogs tested for Cushing’s syndrome from a population of 905,554
epilepsy dogs across 886 UK veterinary practices.
• Of 10 non-drug therapies, the five rated to have the Using structured clinical data and looking at the dogs’
highest potential positive impact on epilepsy management demographics, clinical signs at presentation and laboratory results,
were behaviour management, gene editing, CBD oil machine-learning algorithms were applied to predict a future
supplementation, MCT oil supplementation and surgery diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome. Dogs suspected of having
Priorities differed between vets and owners, with owners Cushing’s were included in the analysis and classified based on
prioritising day-to-day quality of life issues for their dog, such their final reported diagnosis within their clinical records.
as behavioural issues or the side effects from medications. The findings indicate that the machine-learning algorithm could
In contrast, the vet groups prioritised clinical issues, such as reliably predict the diagnosis of a practising veterinarian and
identifying the genetic causes of epilepsy and how different types provides evidence of the potential for machine-learning methods to
of seizures are classified. contribute to diagnostic improvements in clinical practise.
The research paper, ‘Research priorities for idiopathic epilepsy in dogs: The research paper, ‘Machine-learning based prediction of Cushing’s
Viewpoints of owners, general practice veterinarians, and neurology specialists’ syndrome in dogs attending UK primary-care veterinary practice’ was
was published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine and is available open published in Scientific Reports and is available open access at:
access at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.16144 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-88440-z

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