A 1,5-year-old male Maltipoo was presented to the emergency service for dyspnea, weakness, and cough. An echocardiographic examination showed evidence of pulmonary hypertension with a McConnell sign. Lung ultrasound, including color Doppler, was performed and identified two distinct populations of lung consolidation. Color Doppler analysis of the first type of consolidation showed the absence of blood flow within regions of the consolidation and flow amputation. These findings were consistent with the “vascular sign” reported in human medicine and prompted consideration of pulmonary thromboembolism as a differential diagnosis. In the second type of consolidation, color Doppler identified blood flow within the pulmonary vessels of the consolidated lung, forming a “branching tree-like” pattern that followed the anatomical course of the pulmonary vasculature. These findings suggested that blood flow was preserved within the pulmonary vasculature of the consolidated lung and prompted consideration of inflammatory causes of pulmonary pathology. On recheck 6 days later, recanalization of the first type of consolidation was identified with color Doppler. The case was followed serially once a month for 5 months with LUS, which showed continued improvement. Based on a positive fecal Baermann test, a final diagnosis ofAngiostrongylus vasorumwas made. New or Unique information Provided—this is the first report of color Doppler LUS being used to characterize and help differentiate the cause of lung consolidation in dogs.

Background: Human literature describes vascular patterns in various types of lung consolidations; however, these changes have not been analyzed in dogs and cats. This retrospective analysis of medical records aimed to describe vascular patterns observed in the airless subpleural lung tissue of dogs and cats and to compare these patterns to various lung consolidations and clinical diagnoses according to parenchymal and vascular criteria described in human literature. Animals: This study included 347 cats and 634 dogs. Methods: This was a retrospective study encompassing medical records obtained between 2018 and 2023. Lung ultrasound was performed in dogs and cats and cases with different sonographically identified airless subpleural lung tissue were selected. Airless subpleural lung tissue was categorized into five types of consolidations: shred, nodule, wedge sign, mass, and tissue sign. Further classification was based on the parenchymal criteria, the presence or absence of bronchograms and the vascular patterns identified within these regions. Bronchograms were classified as air bronchograms (dynamic and/or static), fluid bronchograms, mixed fluid and air bronchograms, and/or absence of bronchograms. Vascular patterns were classified as tree-like, residual, chaotic, “vascular sign”, and whether they were continuous with and extended from the chest wall or not. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: It is possible to identify and characterize airless subpleural lung tissue in cats and dogs based on the parenchymal and vascular characteristics.

Hyperechoic vertical artifacts are an essential feature of lung ultrasound (LUS) arising from various pathological states. Those that meet the criteria for B-lines have the most significant diagnostic value and should be differentiated from other hyperechoic vertical artifacts of unspecified clinical importance. Although numerous studies have assessed the impacts of transducer type on the appearance of B-lines in human medicine, comparative studies in veterinary medicine are limited and conflicting. This study compares three transducer types for the assessment of hyperechoic vertical artifacts in dogs. We hypothesize that there is high-level reviewer agreement in the assessment of HVA image quality and characteristics, and that the image quality/characteristics differ between the three transducers. Dogs (n = 8) with HVAs and sonographic absence of lung consolidations, pleural effusion, and/or pneumothorax were enrolled. Twenty-four cine-loops (5 s) containing HVAs were retrospectively and independently reviewed by two reviewers, who were blinded to the case details but not transducer type. The reviewers assessed the cine-loops for the following: whether HVAs meet the B-line criteria, ease of counting HVAs, and overall image quality. Paired cine-loops from the same patient using different transducers were then presented for HVA quality comparison. Inter-rater concordance was determined using the Kappa coefficient, Kendall’s tau, and Pearson correlation coefficient, while characteristics were compared using chi-square and Kruskal–Wallis tests (level of significance, α = 0.05). The overall concordance of image quality was good (Pearson’s coefficient = 0.82). The PA transducer scored lower in image quality (p < 0.001), HVA blending (p = 0.014), graininess (p < 0.001), and clarity of edges (p < 0.001) when compared with the microconvex and linear transducers, and the identification of B-line criteria differed between transducers (p = 0.024). Furthermore, the PA scored lowest in the comparison of paired cine-loops regarding the image and HVA quality (p < 0.001). Although more HVAs failed to reach the far field with the linear transducer (10/16, 62.5%) compared with the microconvex (8/16, 50%) and PA (3/16, 18.5%) transducers, the linear transducer scored higher than the microconvex and PA transducers regarding its ability to count B-lines (p < 0.001). This study demonstrates that the type of transducer significantly impacts the characteristics of HVAs, with the PA transducer producing lower-quality images compared with the microconvex and linear transducers.

In this paper, we present the estimated Love numbers for degree 2 and 3 (k2 and k3). The determination was based on the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) data of LAGEOS-1 and LAGEOS-2 satellites obtained within the period of January 1, 2014 until January 1, 2016. The results were compared with our previous determination of these parameters for the period from January 1, 2005 until January 1, 2007 to examine whether any systematic differences and time evolution occur. The adjusted values for the k2 and k3 parameters are, 0.29867±0.0001 and 0.0898±0.0047 (LAGEOS-1 data), respectively and 0.29858±0.0001 and 0.0867±0.0047 (LAGEOS-2 data). The discrepancies between the k2 and k3 values obtained in our previous paper [25] and this analysis are: –0.00293 (LAGEOS-1 data) and –0.00202 (LAGEOS-2 data) for k2 and –0.0091 (LAGEOS-1 data) and 0.0057 (LAGEOS-2 data) for k3. The obtained discrepancies in the k2 and k3 values may indicate their change over time. Keywords: tides, Love numbers, SLR, LAGEOS-1, LAGEOS-2

Background: Human literature describes vascular patterns in various types of lung consolidations; however, these changes have not been analyzed in dogs and cats. This retrospective analysis of medical records aimed to describe vascular patterns observed in the airless subpleural lung tissue of dogs and cats and to compare these patterns to various lung consolidations and clinical diagnoses according to parenchymal and vascular criteria described in the human literature. Animals: 347 cats and 634 dogs. Methods: This was a retrospective study encompassing medical records obtained between 2018 and 2023. Lung ultrasound was performed in dogs and cats and cases with different sonographically identified airless subpleural lung tissue were selected. Lung consolidations were classified as shred, nodule, wedge sign, mass, and tissue sign. Further classification was based on the parenchymal criteria, the presence or absence of bronchograms and the vascular patterns identified within these regions. Bronchograms were classified as air bronchograms (dynamic and/or static), fluid bronchograms, mixed fluid and air bronchograms, and/or absence of bronchograms. Vascular patterns were classified as tree-like, residual, chaotic, “vascular sign,” and whether they were continuous with and extended from the chest wall or not. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: It is possible to identify and characterize airless subpleural lung tissue in cats and dogs based on the parenchymal and vascular characteristics.

Background: Cardiac auscultation remains fundamental to clinical practice; however, large prospective datasets assessing murmur localization and stage-dependent intensity across canine cardiac diseases are scarce. Objectives: To characterize point of maximal intensity (PMI) patterns across cardiac abnormalities in dogs and to assess associations between murmur grade and disease stage in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).Animals: 6,996 client-owned dogs examined by 50 cardiology-trained veterinarians across internationally distributed centers.Methods: Dogs underwent standardized cardiac auscultation at four predefined thoracic locations and an echocardiographic examination during the same visit. PMI patterns were characterized across cardiac abnormalities, and associations between murmur grade and MMVD and DCM disease stages were evaluated. Results: Dogs with MMVD and DCM predominantly showed a left apical PMI, whereas congenital outflow tract diseases and patent ductus arteriosus were predominantly associated with a left basilar PMI. Tricuspid regurgitation and ventricular septal defect were more commonly associated with right apical and right basilar PMIs, respectively. In dogs with MMVD, murmur intensity increased with advancing stage (p < 0.001). Dogs with a murmur greater than soft had substantially higher odds of being in stage B2 or C/D than B1 (OR 35.9, 95% CI 27.6–46.6). In dogs with DCM, 25.8% had no audible murmur, and murmur intensity did not consistently increase with disease stage (p = 0.03). Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Auscultation reveals disease-associated murmur patterns and provides staging information in MMVD but limited severity assessment in DCM. Echocardiography remains essential for definitive diagnosis and staging.