Background: Early recognition of pre-capillary (PC) pulmonary hypertension (PH) benefits dogs, allowing earlier treatment and improving prognosis. The value of focused cardiac ultrasound (FCU) to diagnose PH and assess its severity has not been investigated yet. Hypothesis: A subjective 10-point FCU pulmonary hypertension score (PHS) allows diagnosis and assessment of severity of PCPH. Animals: This study involved fifty client-owned dogs. Methods: Dogs, recruited between September 2017 and February 2020, were classified into four categories (no, mild, moderate, and severe PH; C1 to C4, respectively). C1 and C2, and C3 and C4 were regrouped as group 1 and group 2, respectively. A blinded general practitioner assessed four FCU cineloops. Five echocardiographic parameters were subjectively scored, resulting in a total score of 0–10. Non-parametric tests compared global scores between categories and groups. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve determined the cutoff value to differentiate group 1 and group 2. A gray zone approach allowed diagnosing or excluding moderate to severe PH with 90% certitude. Results: Global scores were significantly higher for C4 than for C1, C2, and C3. Global scores of G2 were significantly higher than G1. The ROC curve indicated a cutoff value of 5, discriminating group 1 from group 2 with a sensitivity of 77% and a specificity of 100%. A score of ≥5/10 allowed diagnosing moderate to severe PH with ≥90% certainty while a score of ≤2/10 excluded PH with ≥90% certainty. Conclusions and Clinical Significance: Moderate to severe PCPH can be accurately detected by non-cardiologists using a 10-point FCU PHS score.

Antimicrobials’ topical administration efficacy has not been assessed in dogs with upper respiratory tract disease. The aim was to compare the concentration of gentamicin in nasal lavage fluid (NALF) and in serum after three topical protocols. This was a prospective crossover study of ten healthy dogs. Gentamicin was nebulized for a duration of 1 week, twice a day, for 10 min in the first protocol (10-min protocol) and for 3 min in the second protocol (3-min protocol), while the third protocol consisted of the administration of 0.25 mL of gentamicin in each nostril (drop protocol). Median concentrations of gentamicin in NALF were 9.39 µg/mL (8.12–19.97 interquartile range), 4.96 µg/mL (4.60–6.43) and 137.00 µg/mL (110.5–162.00) in the 10-min protocol, 3-min protocol and drop protocol, respectively. The result for the drop protocol was significantly higher than those of both nebulization protocols in NALF (p = 0.039). In serum, the gentamicin concentration was 0.98 µg/mL (0.65–1.53) and 0.25 µg/mL (0.25–0.44) in the 10-min and 3-min protocols, respectively. Gentamicin was not detected in the serum of seven out of ten dogs in the drop protocol, and gentamicin was significantly higher in the 10-min protocol compared to the drop protocol (p = 0.001). This study found that the 10-min, 3-min and drop protocols achieved superior concentrations in NALF compared to the minimum inhibitory concentration for gentamicin-sensitive bacteria, while remaining below the toxic values in blood.

Bronchiectasis (BE) and bronchomalacia (BM) are chronic respiratory diseases in dogs, yet their combined occurrence (BEBM) is not well studied. This retrospective study analyzed 65 dogs diagnosed via endoscopy with BE, BM, or BEBM (E-BE, E-BM, E-BEBM) to identify clinical and pathological differences and assess how imaging results (radiography and computed tomography (CT)) align with endoscopic findings. Clinical symptoms like coughing, dyspnea, and exercise intolerance were similar across all groups, except lung crackles, which were more common in E-BEBM. Inflammation seen during bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid results, including neutrophil counts, showed no significant differences between groups. Bacterial infections were present in 15% of dogs with no difference among groups. Diagnostic agreement between radiography and endoscopy was low: 18.1% for E-BE, 10.5% for E-BM, and 38.4% for E-BEBM. CT results matched endoscopic findings in all E-BE cases but only in half of E-BM and 40% of E-BEBM cases. The bronchial-to-arterial ratio, a benchmark for BE diagnosis, did not align with CT findings. Overall, the study found limited clinical or pathological differences between BE, BM, and BEBM and limited concordance between imaging and endoscopic findings, emphasizing the need for further research to clarify potential implications for treatment strategies.

Chronic bronchitis (CB) in dogs involves persistent inflammation of the bronchial walls and excessive mucus production within the airways, with or without bronchial infection, and may lead to degenerative airway changes such as bronchiectasis (BE) and bronchomalacia (BM). Standardized treatment protocols for CB with concurrent BE and/or BM (BEBM) are lacking. This article proposes a therapeutic approach for dogs with CB and BEBM, based on veterinary literature and relevant human medical data. Two treatment algorithms are outlined, depending on the presence or absence of cytological evidence of bacterial infection in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and/or bronchial brush samples. For cases with suspected infection, indicated by intracellular bacteria on cytology, first-line therapy with oral doxycycline is recommended pending BALF culture and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) results. If warranted, antibiotic therapy should be escalated stepwise after culture/qPCR confirmation, in accordance with antimicrobial stewardship principles. In non-infectious inflammatory cases, inhaled glucocorticoids are advised as first-line therapy and may also be used in infectious cases unresponsive to antibiotics alone. Mucoactive agents and cough suppressants are not recommended in the initial protocol but may be considered as adjunctive, symptom-targeted treatments on a case-by-case basis, avoiding unnecessary or unsupported interventions. These proposed algorithms are not intended as definitive clinical guidelines, but as a starting point for discussion and future validation. They emphasize rational and prudent use of antibiotics, alone or alongside anti-inflammatory therapy, to improve patient outcomes while minimizing antimicrobial resistance risks. Further research is needed to assess the long-term efficacy of this approach.

Chronic bronchial diseases (CBD) associated with bronchiectasis (BE) and/or bronchomalacia (BM) are commonly diagnosed in dogs. Their pathogenesis remains incompletely understood, and recent studies have questioned the clinical relevance of distinguishing BE and/or BM, suggesting that their pathogenic mechanisms may overlap and that differentiating between them may have limited clinical significance. To date, the role of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in BE and/or BM remains undetermined. This study aimed to validate NETs detection techniques in banked canine bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) using healthy (H) dogs, as negative controls, dogs with bacterial bronchopneumonia (BBP), as positive controls, and to compare NET detectability in dogs with CBD associated with BE and/or BM. A retrospective observational study was conducted using client-owned dogs presented with CBD and BE, BM, or BEBM based on endoscopic findings, or BBP. NETs were measured in BALF by quantification of cell-free DNA (cfDNA), detection of myeloperoxidase (MPO)-DNA complexes via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and by confocal laser scanning microscopy of immunofluorescent labeled samples. cfDNA concentrations were significantly higher in BBP dogs than in CBD or H-dogs, with no significant differences among the CBD groups. MPO–DNA complex levels were significantly higher in dogs with CBD and BBP than in H-dogs, with BE dogs showing the greatest increase compared with H and BM dogs, and BEBM dogs also exceeding H-dogs. Across all dogs, MPO–DNA complexes correlated positively with total and absolute neutrophil counts, neutrophil percentage, cfDNA concentrations, and duration of clinical signs. These associations varied between groups, with the strongest and most consistent correlations observed in BE-dogs. This study indicates that NETs are detected and quantifiable in the BALF of dogs with CBD and BE and/or BM and dogs with BBP. Their presence suggests that NET formation may play a role in the pathogenesis of CBD, especially in cases involving BE. Further research is needed to explore the role of NETs as well as the therapeutic potential of NET modulation in respiratory diseases.