Long-term treatment of a canine intramedullary spinal cord hamartoma

Honorable Mention, Cases and Abstracts
Keiko Petrosky and Dominik Faissler, Tufts University

From the Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, 200 Westboro Rd, North Grafton, MA, 01536

A nine month old castrated male Irish Setter presented for evaluation of intermittent paraparesis and hind end ataxia. A MRI showed a large inhomogeneous intramedullary T2*-W voiding lesion over T2-3 with an associated cystic component at T4. A Dorsal laminectomy and longitudinal myelotomy was performed at T2-4. A large, dark intramedullary mass was removed.  Histological analysis showed hemorrhage and a non-encapsulated, disorganized proliferation of vascular walls intermixed with fibrous tissue effacing the normal spinal cord architecture.  The diagnosis of a hamartoma was further supported by positive immunostaining with anti-factor VIII and anti-actin antibodies. Two months post-surgery the dog was ambulatory with mild hypermetric ataxia.  Eleven months after the myelotomy the patient presented for repeat imaging after the owner reported increased paraparesis and ataxia. At the mid-body of T3, the intramedullary lesion was noted more prominently than previously with an increased diameter of the T2*-W voiding lesion. The dog underwent definitive radiation therapy (3Gy/fraction, 15 treatments, total dose of 45 Gy). Additional recheck MRI studies at 16 and 25 months post-surgery showed an unchanged situation.  The patient continued to be neurologically stable, with mild paraparesis, ataxia and moderately clonic patellar reflex in the left hind leg.

And that's why we wear scrubs...

Honorable Mention, Foot in Mouth Disease
Rebecca Donnelly, Cornell University

A few summers before entering veterinary school, I was an intern at a small animal hospital in a suburb of Buffalo, NY. I eagerly absorbed as much information as I could from my mentor, and I jumped at any opportunity to perform even the most basic procedures. Of course, to a practicing veterinarian, an anal gland expression is less-than-enthralling. But to a student gunning for vet school, it's arguably more exciting than Christmas morning. The day finally arrived when the hospital's receptionist brought her dog in for a check up--the perfect victim for a practicing student. As the dog approached, my mentor prepared me with step-by-step procedure instructions. I listened intently with my heart pounding our of my chest for my first supervised procedure ever. Once the dog was on the table, the vet stood beside me as I began the procedure. With gloved, lubed hands and my gauze shield handy, I found "8 o'clock" and tried to squeeze. Clogged. I worked at it a little, and then, it happened.  My worst nightmare came true. The secretion shot directly to my side, past my "shield," and coated the front of my mentor--from neck to pants. Her jaw dropped and she stood, stunned, for several moments. Who can blame her since I just nearly missed her face with the infamous "butt juice." But, of course, she was understanding and just changed into a new set of scrubs. Life as a veterinarian, I'm sure, is often full of these stinky surprises. I couldn't look her in the eye for a straight week and did my best to avoid her in a one-vet practice (a tough feat, I might add). Eventually, life went on. But when it came time to ask for a recommendation for vet school, I did hint that she might leave out that one small detail! 

AVMA member input sought on Association’s Governance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 26, 2013

AVMA member input sought on Association’s Governance

February 26, 2013—The AVMA Task Force on Governance and Member Participation presented a hypothetical governance model at the January 3-5, 2013 Veterinary Leadership Conference. Reactions from those present were mixed. Task Force members visited Reference Committee and District meetings to gather additional feedback and are inviting all those not present to review the model and provide comments prior to March 31 2013.

“Change in governance will ultimately affect every individual member,” said Dr. Grace Bransford, a Task Force member from Mill Valley, California. “It’s time to harness new technologies, move more nimbly, act more transparently, and build new bridges within and outside the AVMA to help us be the most effective veterinary professional association we can be. We need every member’s input to help us blaze new trails and rethink some old systems.”

All AVMA members are urged to review the Governance model  (http://www.avma.org/goverancetaskforce)presented at the Veterinary Leadership Conference and email (avmagovernance@avma.org) the Task Force with their feedback by March 31, 2013. Comments will be reviewed by the Task Force prior to forwarding their recommendation to the AVMA Executive Board.

The Task Force, comprised of 11 volunteer members, was formed as the result of a 2011 resolution by the House of Delegates to conduct a review and evaluation of the current governance structure. Task Force members have spent the past 10 months listening to their colleagues’ concerns, gathering and evaluating research, as well as talking with association experts within and outside the profession. The Task Force hopes to have a final recommendation to the Executive Board in time for its June meeting.

“Let’s work together to build something to take us into the next 150 years,” added Bransford.

How rejection can be your biggest success

Honorable Mention, Experiences Category
Christopher Reeves, Auburn University

The experience that has made me the most successful in both my personal life and in vet school would be, hands down, my rejection from vet school.  On the surface this may seem like an oxymoron, but it is the painful truth.  I owe everything I have accomplished to being told, “you’re not good enough… yet.”

After a typical college experience, I remember the day I was given my answer.  It was April of 2009, I was graduating the next month and I had gone home to Mobile Alabama to visit with my family.  That Saturday night we were about to sit down to have dinner; a London broil, asparagus, potatoes, and rolls to be exact, and I checked Facebook.  All of my friends had updated their statuses about whether or not they had gotten in.  A brick dropped in my stomach because I was 217 miles away from my Auburn mailbox.  I called up my brother and begged him, successfully, to drive the 53 miles from Montgomery to check the mail.  That whole dinner I was too anxious to eat, and about an hour later he called me.  I still remember the conversation:

 

“Hey man I’m pulling up!

Yup, the letter is in here… ‘Dear Christopher Reeves, yadda yadda yadda

We wish to inform you that you have been selected…

To be placed on the alternate list…

Dude I’m so sorry… But you still have a shot right?!”

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Partners for Healthy Pets Update- Winter, 2013

An Unprecedented Effort

The second year of Partners for Healthy Pets saw many accomplishments. First and foremost among them was the continuing growth and support for what has become a coalition of professional associations and animal health industry partners that is truly unprecedented in the history of the profession. We enter 2013 with all 20 founding members renewing their commitment of financial and other resources, and pledging their ongoing support for increasing the preventive healthcare services delivered to the nation’s pets.

Just as impressively, 45 Associate Members, including 34 state veterinary associations, have pledged support for the mission and vision of the organization and have committed to providing in-kind contributions. Based on requests from other sectors, Associate Member categories have been established for Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, International Associations, and the media.

We are truly and uniquely positioned to make a positive and significant impact on pet health

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