Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common disorder characterized by the inflammation of the exocrine pancreas in dogs, and the severity of the clinical signs of pancreatitis varies greatly. Therefore, the diagnosis of pancreatitis is challenging. The canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity test (SNAP cPL; IDEXX Laboratories Inc., USA) is rapid and relatively accurate in diagnosing pancreatitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the positivity rate of the SNAP cPL test in dogs regarding the severity of gastrointestinal (GI) signs and concurrent diseases. Electronic medical records of dogs were reviewed. For retrospective classification, 80 dogs with GI signs who underwent the SNAP cPL test were enrolled. Additionally, concurrent diseases on the day of the SNAP cPL test were reviewed. A positive SNAP cPL test result was observed in 26 of the 80 dogs (32.5%) with GI signs. The severity of GI signs using a scoring system and the positivity rate of SNAP cPL were statistically related. Furthermore, dogs with concurrent chronic kidney disease had a significantly higher positivity rate of SNAP cPL than those without chronic kidney disease. This information might help clinicians to decide whether a SNAP cPL test is needed.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common disorder characterized by the inflammation of the exocrine pancreas in dogs, and the severity of the clinical signs of pancreatitis varies greatly. Therefore, the diagnosis of pancreatitis is challenging. The canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity test (SNAP cPL; IDEXX Laboratories Inc., USA) is rapid and relatively accurate in diagnosing pancreatitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the positivity rate of the SNAP cPL test in dogs regarding the severity of gastrointestinal (GI) signs and concurrent diseases. Electronic medical records of dogs were reviewed. For retrospective classification, 80 dogs with GI signs who underwent the SNAP cPL test were enrolled. Additionally, concurrent diseases on the day of the SNAP cPL test were reviewed. A positive SNAP cPL test result was observed in 26 of the 80 dogs (32.5%) with GI signs. The severity of GI signs using a scoring system and the positivity rate of SNAP cPL were statistically related. Furthermore, dogs with concurrent chronic kidney disease had a significantly higher positivity rate of SNAP cPL than those without chronic kidney disease. This information might help clinicians to decide whether a SNAP cPL test is needed.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common disorder characterized by the inflammation of the exocrine pancreas in dogs, and the severity of the clinical signs of pancreatitis varies greatly. Therefore, the diagnosis of pancreatitis is challenging. The canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity test (SNAP cPL; IDEXX Laboratories Inc., USA) is rapid and relatively accurate in diagnosing pancreatitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the positivity rate of the SNAP cPL test in dogs regarding the severity of gastrointestinal (GI) signs and concurrent diseases. Electronic medical records of dogs were reviewed. For retrospective classification, 80 dogs with GI signs who underwent the SNAP cPL test were enrolled. Additionally, concurrent diseases on the day of the SNAP cPL test were reviewed. A positive SNAP cPL test result was observed in 26 of the 80 dogs (32.5%) with GI signs. The severity of GI signs using a scoring system and the positivity rate of SNAP cPL were statistically related. Furthermore, dogs with concurrent chronic kidney disease had a significantly higher positivity rate of SNAP cPL than those without chronic kidney disease. This information might help clinicians to decide whether a SNAP cPL test is needed.

Short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT) is a rare primary headache disorder characterized by severe intractable stabbing headache and accompanying tearing and conjunctival injections. In this report, we present a case of a patient with SUNCT who achieved sustained remarkable improvement more than 6 months following successful treatment with a single session of botulinum toxin A, after being refractory or intolerant to several preventives for 4 months.

Short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT) is a rare primary headache disorder characterized by severe intractable stabbing headache and accompanying tearing and conjunctival injections. In this report, we present a case of a patient with SUNCT who achieved sustained remarkable improvement more than 6 months following successful treatment with a single session of botulinum toxin A, after being refractory or intolerant to several preventives for 4 months.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common disorder characterized by the inflammation of the exocrine pancreas in dogs, and the severity of the clinical signs of pancreatitis varies greatly. Therefore, the diagnosis of pancreatitis is challenging. The canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity test (SNAP cPL; IDEXX Laboratories Inc., USA) is rapid and relatively accurate in diagnosing pancreatitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the positivity rate of the SNAP cPL test in dogs regarding the severity of gastrointestinal (GI) signs and concurrent diseases. Electronic medical records of dogs were reviewed. For retrospective classification, 80 dogs with GI signs who underwent the SNAP cPL test were enrolled. Additionally, concurrent diseases on the day of the SNAP cPL test were reviewed. A positive SNAP cPL test result was observed in 26 of the 80 dogs (32.5%) with GI signs. The severity of GI signs using a scoring system and the positivity rate of SNAP cPL were statistically related. Furthermore, dogs with concurrent chronic kidney disease had a significantly higher positivity rate of SNAP cPL than those without chronic kidney disease. This information might help clinicians to decide whether a SNAP cPL test is needed.

Short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT) is a rare primary headache disorder characterized by severe intractable stabbing headache and accompanying tearing and conjunctival injections. In this report, we present a case of a patient with SUNCT who achieved sustained remarkable improvement more than 6 months following successful treatment with a single session of botulinum toxin A, after being refractory or intolerant to several preventives for 4 months.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common disorder characterized by the inflammation of the exocrine pancreas in dogs, and the severity of the clinical signs of pancreatitis varies greatly. Therefore, the diagnosis of pancreatitis is challenging. The canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity test (SNAP cPL; IDEXX Laboratories Inc., USA) is rapid and relatively accurate in diagnosing pancreatitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the positivity rate of the SNAP cPL test in dogs regarding the severity of gastrointestinal (GI) signs and concurrent diseases. Electronic medical records of dogs were reviewed. For retrospective classification, 80 dogs with GI signs who underwent the SNAP cPL test were enrolled. Additionally, concurrent diseases on the day of the SNAP cPL test were reviewed. A positive SNAP cPL test result was observed in 26 of the 80 dogs (32.5%) with GI signs. The severity of GI signs using a scoring system and the positivity rate of SNAP cPL were statistically related. Furthermore, dogs with concurrent chronic kidney disease had a significantly higher positivity rate of SNAP cPL than those without chronic kidney disease. This information might help clinicians to decide whether a SNAP cPL test is needed.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of using a deep learning-based analysis of auscultation data to predict significant stenosis of arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) in patients undergoing hemodialysis requiring percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). Materials and Methods: Forty patients (24 male and 16 female; median age, 62.5 years) with dysfunctional native AVF were prospectively recruited. Digital sounds from the AVF shunt were recorded using a wireless electronic stethoscope before (pre-PTA) and after PTA (post-PTA), and the audio files were subsequently converted to mel spectrograms, which were used to construct various deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) models (DenseNet201, EfficientNetB5, and ResNet50). The performance of these models for diagnosing ≥ 50% AVF stenosis was assessed and compared. The ground truth for the presence of ≥ 50% AVF stenosis was obtained using digital subtraction angiography. Gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) was used to produce visual explanations for DCNN model decisions. Results: Eighty audio files were obtained from the 40 recruited patients and pooled for the study. Mel spectrograms of “pre-PTA” shunt sounds showed patterns corresponding to abnormal high-pitched bruits with systolic accentuation observed in patients with stenotic AVF. The ResNet50 and EfficientNetB5 models yielded an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.99 and 0.98, respectively, at optimized epochs for predicting ≥ 50% AVF stenosis. However, GradCAM heatmaps revealed that only ResNet50 highlighted areas relevant to AVF stenosis in the mel spectrogram. Conclusion Mel spectrogram-based DCNN models, particularly ResNet50, successfully predicted the presence of significant AVF stenosis requiring PTA in this feasibility study and may potentially be used in AVF surveillance.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of women with subsequent distal radius fracture (DRF) and to compare bone fragility variables in women with initial and subsequent DRF. Methods: We enrolled 227 women who experienced DRF (203 women with initial DRF and 24 women with subsequent DRF) between September 2016 and April 2019. We compared demographic characteristics and bone fragility variables, including bone mineral density, trabecular bone score, hip geometry, bicortical thickness of the distal radius, and fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) scores between the 2 groups. To reduce bias, patients with subsequent DRF were propensity score-matched in a 1:2 manner with patients affected by initial DRF, and additional comparisons were performed. Results: Patients in the subsequent DRF group were older than those in the initial DRF group, but this difference was not significant (P=0.091). The proportion of patients receiving treatment with osteoporosis medication was significantly higher in the subsequent DRF group (41.7% vs. 19.2%, P=0.011). Bone fragility variables did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. However, the ten-year probability of major osteoporotic fractures based on FRAX scores was significantly higher in patients with subsequent DRF (7.5% vs. 10.8%, P<0.001). Similar results were observed when comparing the propensity score-matched initial and subsequent DRF groups. Conclusions These findings suggest that the occurrence of subsequent DRF after initial DRF can be attributed to multiple factors rather than bone fragility alone. Systematic and multidisciplinary management would be helpful in preventing the occurrence of subsequent DRF after the initial DRF.