Page 3 - Clinical Connections- Summer 2021

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Adapting to a Shifting World

It has been heartening to see how Ophthalmology Service and Diagnostic
the veterinary world and our clients Imaging. Members of the Exotics
adapted over the last 18 months. We Referral Service hold a clinic at the
are all, here at the RVC and in the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals on
wider veterinary community, working in a regular basis and on this occasion
so many new ways to cope with such were able to help a rhea called George
rapidly changing circumstances. Some with left-sided periocular swelling.
of these adaptations will be temporary Ophthalmic examination revealed
and some will prove to have sufficient marked conjunctival hyperaemia.
utility to be more long-standing There was a soft mass in the medial
adjustments to the way we deliver to aspect of the orbit, compressing the
our stakeholders; effectively positive globe. A CT was performed with IV
evolutions of our working practices, contrast and revealed multiple pockets
catalysed by the pandemic. of fluid in the left periorbital sinus, with
As a science-led profession, we concretions of solid material with areas
certainly would hope to have responded of mineralisation compressing the left
to the circumstances using a robust globe. I hope you read the article by
evidence-based approach to inform our decisions, Vicki Baldrey and Jo Hedley to find out more about this
always prioritising the health and wellbeing of our case.
students, staff and our patients. In the best traditions Page 5 has an equine article by Andy Fiske-Jackson
of clinical audit, it will be essential for us to review our about gait analysis for poor performance and how our
responses and adjustments over the last 18 months team can pinpoint subtle problems that can have such
and continue to do so on a regular basis, reflecting upon a massive impact on a horse’s performance as an elite
how far the world shifted to contend with the disease athlete.
– and ultimately which of these shifts and adjustments The centre pages feature an article about diagnostic
worked and which did not. imaging of portosystemic shunts by Mark Plested and
However, other diseases and circumstances that Randi Drees. The piece includes a valuable discussion
plague animals – and other challenging situations vets of the morphology of intrahepatic portosystemic shunts
routinely face – haven’t gone away. This issue includes and excellent schematic drawings and corresponding
animal abuse resulting in multiple traumas, the recent CT angiography images, showing examples of different
“outbreak” of feline pancytopenia and its likely cause, intrahepatic shunts.
a review of feline lymphoma and a challenging exotics Page 8 has an article on feline lymphoma by members
ophthalmology case, to name but a few areas covered. of our Oncology Service, Irina Gramer and Alexandra
The first two pages are devoted to a case that took the Guillen Martinez. They discuss the diagnosis of different
combined efforts and talents of three of our specialist types of lymphoma in cats and why the prevalence
teams, the Neurology and Neurosurgery Service, of particular types has changed over time. The article
Orthopaedics and Diagnostic Imaging. A pair of dogs also includes an interesting case study about a cat
were thrown from the back of a moving van in London, diagnosed with a high-grade mediastinal lymphoma and
one of which was found to have sustained multiple who had intestinal surgery and chemotherapy.
injuries over time. The dog, Gladys, was partially We all have become accustomed to ‘One Health’
paralysed and unable to walk. CT revealed two vertebral articles in the veterinary press, but Alejandro Suarez
fractures with an abscess in the muscles surrounding Bonnet of our Pathology and Diagnostic Laboratories
one of these. The presence of the abscess meant there team has written a fascinating article about One
was a risk that placement of surgical implants would Pathology, which appears on Page 9. He talks about
be followed by infection and implant failure and so the the comparative pathology of domestic, wildlife and
fracture was stabilised with an external skeletal fixator. laboratory animals and outlines a broad range of
Page 4 includes details of another collaboration – RVC research that underline similarities between the
this time between the Exotics Referral Service, the pathology of different species.

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