Research in veterinary science
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This study aimed to assess precision of viscoelastic measurements of feline blood using the ROTEM delta analyser and to establish reference intervals. Intra-assay-variability was evaluated by analysing samples of two cats in quadruplicate. Reference intervals were established based on 55 clinically healthy European shorthair cats including different sexes and age groups. ⋯ Only sporadically, differences between the individual age groups were found. In conclusion, analysis of feline blood using the ROTEM analyser showed acceptable reproducibility. The established reference intervals may be a useful orientation for measurements of feline blood using the ROTEM delta analyser.
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Providing a pre-operative prognosis for dogs presented with absent deep pain perception (DPP) is extremely challenging, as the overall recovery rates widely vary. This study assesses the possible correlation between the severity of spinal cord injury and CSF cytology in 31 paraplegic dogs presented with absent DPP due to acute thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniation (TL-IVDH). ⋯ MΦ:M of 0.73 and higher corresponded to a sensitivity of 54% and specificity of 100% for prediction of a negative long-term outcome. CSF TNCC, macrophage percentage and MΦ:M ratio effectively predicted regaining DPP and the long-term outcome in dogs that lost DPP due to acute TL-IVDH.