Biomedical subjects

J C Woodard

Publications and source records attributed to J C Woodard.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

Dysgerminoma in an Arabian filly.

A yearling Arabian filly was referred to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital with a history of weight loss, profound anemia, and peritoneal effusion. At necropsy, a large, soft, mottled tan and red neoplastic mass was at the pelvic inlet replacing the left ovary. Additional tumor nodules of various sizes were disseminated throughout the mesentery, diaphragm, and serosal surfaces of the abdominal viscera. Histologically, the neoplasm had sheets of large round to polygonal cells separated into lobules by fibrous connective tissue with multifocal areas of necrosis. Tumor cells stained strongly for alkaline phosphatase. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells expressed vimentin and were negative for cytokeratin. Ultrastructurally, the neoplastic cells had a characteristic nucleolus with an elaborate reticular nucleolonema in an irregular configuration. This is the first in-depth detailed report of this very rare germ cell tumor of the ovary in horses.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

PubMed1997

Pathogenesis of vitamin (A and D)-induced premature growth-plate closure in calves.

The pathogenesis of vitamin A-induced premature growth-plate closure was investigated in calves. A progressive increase in the severity of growth-plate lesions with time and a progressive increase in the extent of growth-plate involvement was observed. There was initial loss of metachromasia from the growth plate in a region that formed a narrow horizontal band of cartilage composed of the epiphyseal growth zone and a strip of reserve-zone cartilage. Immunostaining revealed there was loss of aggrecan, decorin, and biglycan from this region; however, it was doubtful that the regional loss of proteoglycan was a major contributing factor in the pathogenesis of premature growth-plate closure. This is because this region was the vestige of cartilage that remained when growth-plate closure was almost complete. The major alteration was premature mineralization of columnar cartilage and subsequent endochondral ossification. This caused the depth of the columnar zone to be reduced. Columnar-zone cartilage cells appeared immature where the matrix became mineralized and lacked the morphology of hypertrophic chondrocytes. The depth of the reserve-cartilage zone also was reduced as matrix mineralization of the columnar zone progressed, and further reduction in columnar cartilage depth occurred. Eventually, there was matrix mineralization within the adjacent reserve cartilage. The distribution of reaction product after immunostaining with antibodies to the following proteins was described during normal endochondral ossification: aggrecan, decorin, biglycan, versican, type I collagen propeptide, type I collagen, type II collagen, osteopontin, osteocalcin, osteonectin, bone sialoprotein, and alkaline phosphatase. Biglycan, type I collagen propeptide, type I collagen, osteopontin, osteocalcin, osteonectin, bone sialoprotein, and alkaline phosphatase were localized within the cytoplasm or surrounding matrix of hypertrophic chondrocytes. In vitamin-treated calves, these same proteins were found in regions undergoing premature matrix mineralization even though the chondrocytes did not have a hypertrophic morphology. Therefore, vitamin treatment did not cause just a selective expression, but it caused expression of a large number of matrix proteins normally associated with the hypertrophic chondrocyte phenotype. Finally, completely mineralized columnar and reserve cartilage were removed by a modeling/remodeling process similar to that seen in the metaphysis.

Aggrecans↗

PubMed1997

Osteosarcoma following total hip arthroplasty in a dog.

Osteosarcoma involving the distal right femur was diagnosed in a nine-year-old female neutered Rottweiler seven years after total hip arthroplasty had been performed on that limb. The findings were consistent with a primary bone tumour and pathological fracture of the right femoral condyle with loosening of the orthopaedic implant and fracture of the polymethylmethacrylate at the distal aspect of the femoral component. Possible hypotheses to explain the association of osteosarcoma with total hip arthroplasty suggest that the neoplastic process was the result of some derangement of host tissue and the healing process or that the implants or their by-products were carcinogenic. Given the large number of total hip arthroplasties that are routinely performed in dogs, the development of a malignant lesion appears to be an extraordinary complication and may be completely coincidental.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Articular chondrocalcinosis of the humeral head in greyhounds.

Of 143 Greyhounds necropsied consecutively, 6 (4%) had chondrocalcinosis of the scapulohumeral joint; lesions were identified in 6 additional dogs. Lesions were seen exclusively in the humeral head, mainly in the plateau region. The lesions in the dogs of the initial group were unilateral, but 2 of the 6 additional dogs had bilateral lesions. Focal mineralization of articular cartilage appeared as a white raised nidus, sometimes surrounded by a translucent halo in the opaque cartilage. Circular, small translucent cartilage foci, with or without beginning mineralization, were adjacent to definitive chondrocalcinosis lesions. Chondrocyte necrosis and matrix degradation were considered to antedate appearance of matrical mineral granules; mineralization of the cartilage was considered a secondary process, but not necessarily an epiphenomenon. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that the chondrocalcinosis lesion was composed of deposits of irregularly fused stone material that, in scanning and transmission electron micrographs, was composed of irregular spheroids, 0.05 to 0.5 micron in diameter. The spheroids contained poorly formed needle-like crystals of apatite. Sparse transformation of the mineral phase into hydroxyapatite was considered to be attributable to a biological mechanism that inhibited phase transition. Cartilage degeneration and chondrocalcinosis of the plateau region of the humeral head appear to be unique lesions that develop in young Greyhounds. It is possible that these lesions are the result of the biomechanical stress of training and racing.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Pacing-induced dilated cardiomyopathy increases left-to-right ventricular systolic interaction.

BACKGROUND: The right ventricle (RV) receives part of its systolic pumping force from the left ventricle through systolic ventricular interaction. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of dilated cardiomyopathy on left ventricular to right ventricular (LV-to-RV) systolic interaction. METHODS AND RESULTS: Studies were performed in six normal pigs and in six pigs in which dilated cardiomyopathy resulting in congestive heart failure (CHF) was produced with rapid ventricular pacing at 230 beats per minute for 1 week. In all pigs, we rapidly withdrew blood from the LV apex into a prosthetic ventricle in a single beat, which reduced LV systolic pressure without changing RV or LV end-diastolic pressure, and the resultant instantaneous changes in RV systolic pressure and pulmonary artery flow were determined. The LV-to-RV mean systolic interaction gain was calculated as the change from a normal beat to the instantaneous unloaded beat in mean RV systolic pressure divided by the change in mean LV systolic pressure. Mean systolic pressure gain was approximately 2 1/2 times greater (P < .05) in the CHF animals (0.103 +/- 0.018 mm Hg/mm Hg) than in the normal pigs (0.04- +/- 0.011 mm Hg/mm Hg). CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that left-to-right ventricular systolic interaction is significantly greater in dilated cardiomyopathy compared with the normal heart, indicating that the contribution of the left ventricle to RV systolic pressure generation has increased. This is consistent with decreased elastance of the interventricular septum resulting in increased coupling between the ventricles.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Focal premature physeal closure (hyena disease) in calves.

Focal premature closure of long-bone physes was the cause of conformational abnormalities that affected about 1% of a herd of dairy replacement calves. Affected calves were noticed to "bunny hop" by 3 months of age, and by 6 months of age, they developed abnormal conformation characterized by short pelvic limbs. This condition resembled "hyena disease," which has been described in dairy calves in Europe and Japan. With the exception of the aforementioned abnormalities and femoropatellar joint distention, a group of 5 affected calves examined were clinically normal. At necropsy, focal to almost complete closure of physes was found in the humeri, tibias, and femurs. Cause was not established for the condition; however, it was discovered that the calves had been given supplemental vitamin A/D3 in amounts greater than 10 times those recommended.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Detecting right ventricular volume changes using the conductance catheter.

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of conductance catheter position within the right ventricle in obtaining adequate indications of phasic changes in ventricular volume. Possible applications of this technology are in rate responsive pacemakers and implantable defibrilators. The conductance catheter was placed in the right ventricle by cannulation of a jugular or femoral vein or a branch of the pulmonary artery. Position within the ventricle was documented from biplane fluoroscopy. Stroke volume was perturbed by: bolus injection of blood, vagal stimulation, venous infusion of methylcholine chloride, or isoprenaline. Four criteria were used to assess the quality of volume signals: (1) volume signal phase relative to the electrocardiogram; (2) magnitude parity of volume change from each electrode pair; (3) freedom from artifact; and (4) indication of stroke volume change during interventions. Greyhound dogs of either sex (n = 33), weight 20-32 kg. A total of 236 recordings from 14 distinct catheter positions were analyzed. Catheter positions originating from a femoral cannulation and one position from the pulmonary artery gave markedly superior volume transduction compared to those from the jugular route. Although right ventricular volume transduction was possible from all catheter trajectories, those resulting from the femoral approach were clearly superior. In the right ventricle, the inability to transduce a sufficient proportion of ventricular volume, in concert with the potential sensitivity of the catheter to atrial volume changes, may seriously limit the potential of the conductance technique in the applications envisaged.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Isolated ventricular systolic interaction during transient reductions in left ventricular pressure.

The volume and pressure of one ventricle have been demonstrated to modulate the volume and pressure in the contralateral chamber during systole and diastole. To quantitate the isolated systolic effects of left ventricular (LV) pressure on right ventricular (RV) mechanics, we rapidly withdrew blood from the LV immediately after diastole via an apex cannula during a single cardiac cycle in eight open-chest, open-pericardium anesthetized pigs (45 kg) and studied the effects on the RV. Reductions in LV pressure of up to 75 mm Hg were achieved in midsystolic without changing LV or RV diastolic volume or pressure. Resultant changes in RV flow and pressure development during these single unloaded beats may therefore be considered to result from pure systolic interaction. The instantaneous left-to-right systolic pressure gain [G(t)] was determined as the ratio of RV pressure change to LV pressure change as a function of time during systole, and the mean LV-to-RV systolic pressure gain was determined as the ratio of changes in mean systolic RV pressure to changes in mean systolic LV pressure. During LV unloading, there was an average reduction of 62.6 +/- 12.3% in the mean systolic LV pressure, which resulted in decreases of 13.6 +/- 6.4% in mean RV systolic pressure, 17.9 +/- 10.4% in RV stroke volume, and 27.0 +/- 11.3% in RV stroke work. G(t) was found to vary significantly within systole, reaching a minimum of 0.042 +/- 0.014 mm Hg/mm Hg at normalized time 0.70 of the systolic duration and a maximum of 0.079 +/- 0.029 at the end of RV ejection.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Chondrosarcoma in a wild great white heron from southern Florida.

A typical chondrosarcoma is reported from the nictitating membrane of a great white heron (Ardea herodius occidentalis). This is the first report of a neoplasm in a free flying ciconiiform, and was the only one found in a survey of 957 carcasses from Florida.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Erosive polyarthritis in two greyhounds.

Clinical signs of disease, treatment, laboratory findings, and gross and microscopic changes of erosive polyarthritis in 2 Greyhounds are described. A microscopic feature that may help distinguish this condition from other types of arthritis is extensive necrosis of deep articular cartilage zones, with relative sparing of the more superficial surface cartilage. We believe that the disease in the 2 dogs of this report was identical to that encountered previously in Britain and Australia. Bacteriologic culture and serologic investigation failed to reveal the causative agent.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Morphology of fracture nonunion and osteomyelitis.

The author reviews the types and pathogenesis of fractures that fail to heal. A discussion of acute osteomyelitis and the causes of hematogenous disease is included. Classifications of osteomyelitis and idiopathic bone inflammations are described.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Rapid ventricular pacing in pigs: an experimental model of congestive heart failure.

To develop an improved animal model of congestive heart failure, 11 female farm pigs (wt, 42-46 kg) underwent rapid ventricular pacing at 230 beats/min for 7 days with a modified Medtronic unipolar pacemaker connected to an apical pacing lead. After 7 days the pacemaker was turned off, anesthesia induced, the chest opened, and cardiac hemodynamic and dimensional studies were performed. Results were subsequently compared with data from 12 control pigs that received no pacing. Two pigs died before measurements could be determined. Cardiac output in the paced animals (0.061 +/- 0.018 l.min-1.kg-1) was significantly less (P less than 0.05) than in control pigs (0.085 +/- 0.016 l.min-1.kg-1), when compared at the same resting heart rate. Left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic pressure (23.2 +/- 7.7 vs. 8.6 +/- 3.6 mmHg, P less than 0.01) and right ventricular (RV) end-diastolic pressure (9.0 +/- 3.1 vs. 4.4 +/- 1.7 mmHg, P less than 0.01) were significantly greater in the paced pigs. Significant increases in both septal-lateral LV end-diastolic dimension (60.3 +/- 3.9 vs. 52.1 +/- 7.2 mm, P less than 0.01) and RV end-diastolic dimension (47.2 +/- 5.7 vs. 40.8 +/- 4.7 mm, P less than 0.05) indicated biventricular dilation in the paced pigs. They also exhibited a significantly greater heart weight-to-total body weight ratio and clinical evidence of congestive heart failure, with hepatomegaly and ascites. These results demonstrate that 1 wk of rapid ventricular pacing at 230 beats/min produces a realistic model of congestive heart failure in the pig.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Food induced ("allergic") arthritis: inflammatory synovitis in rabbits.

Progress in understanding rheumatoid (RA) and inflammatory arthritis has been limited in part because there has been no widely accepted animal model of naturally occurring human disease and because the clinical syndrome of RA may reflect the expression of multiple etiologies. We have considered that inflammatory joint disease may be induced and/or exacerbated by food related antigens. To facilitate our investigations, we studied inflammatory synovitis in rabbits induced by oral exposure to environmental antigens. In our preliminary experiments, we examined 9 Florida White, 30 New Zealand White, and 9 Old English rabbits. They were nourished with normal rabbit chow supplemented with either water or cow's milk beginning at age 7 to 26 weeks and observed for 81 to 204 days. Animals were then sacrificed. Histological sections of the knees were examined and graded in a blinded fashion for synovial cell hyperplasia, inflammation, and lymphoplasmocytic infiltration. In addition, serum levels of IgG antimilk, IgG antibovine serum albumin, IgG anticasein, and IgG-C3 complexes were quantified. We found no abnormalities among Florida White rabbits but observed histological synovitis in 53% of the milk fed New Zealand White (9/17), 40% of the water fed Old English (2/5), and all of the milk fed Old English rabbits (4/4) (p = 0.05, milk fed vs water fed animals). Milk fed animals had significantly (p less than 0.0005) greater levels of antibodies and complexes than water fed animals. Our data suggest that environmental antigens may be arthritogenic for some rabbit strains. These observations may provide an important model for the study of inflammatory joint disease analogous to oral, environmental antigen exposure in man.

Animal Husbandry↗

PubMed1989

Effect of radial position on volume measurements using the conductance catheter.

A finite-difference computer model has been used to determine the potential distributions arising from a dipole current source aligned parallel to the axis of bounding cylinders. The radial position of this source had large and nonlinear influence on the potentials along the dipole axis. The accuracy of the computer simulation was established from comparison with an analytic solution of a simple geometry. Measurements using a conductance catheter in saline-filled cylinders also demonstrated the dependence of the conductance on the radial position. The dependence of the potential distribution on the radial position of the dipole places limits on the ultimate accuracy of the conductance catheter technique when used for the measurement of ventricular volume. Radial movement of the catheter within the ventricular cavity, resulting in changes in the potential distribution, could explain some artefacts that appear on volume recordings from the conductance catheter.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Right ventricular volumetry by catheter measurement of conductance.

The electrical conductivity of blood is sufficiently higher than that of myocardium to make feasible the detection of cardiac volume changes by measurement of intraventricular fluid conductance. An eight-electrode catheter was used to inject an alternating current (100 microA or less, at 1500 Hz) via the two electrodes nearest the ventricular base and apex, then the resulting five voltage differences between adjacent pairs of the six intervening electrodes were measured. When current amplitude was held constant, the cross-sectional area of the ventricular cavity slice defined by planes perpendicular to the catheter through the relevant pair of electrodes was inversely proportional (to the first order) to the voltage difference. Measurement of multiple segments compensated for isovolumic cavity shape changes. The technique had previously been shown to measure left ventricular volume successfully, but the geometry of the right ventricle made this measurement more problematical. Using open-chested, anesthetized greyhounds, we compared the catheter-measured right ventricular volume change with stroke volume as measured by a pulmonary arterial electromagnetic blood flowmeter. With optimal catheter placement, good correlation between stroke volume and catheter-measured volume changes was achieved when stroke volume was perturbed on a beat-to-beat basis. In six data records from three dogs, involving two different means of varying stroke volume (rapid injection of blood and sinus node irritation), the correlations yielded r2 values between 0.82 and 0.98.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Effect of diet on longitudinal bone growth and osteochondrosis in swine.

Weanling gilts were fed either a 12% or 16% protein diet for 10 weeks. Animals fed the 12% protein diet had reduced body weights and reduced longitudinal bone growth as measured in the distal radial growth plate. There was no difference in the growth plate widths between the two animal groups, but there was a significant reduction in the daily rate of cell production in the proliferative zone of animals fed the 12% protein diet. No effect of diet on the rate of expansion of the epiphysis at the articular-epiphyseal junction of the distal femur or humerus could be detected. All animals in both groups had morphologic cartilage lesions consistent with early changes associated with osteochondrosis (OCD), and there was no difference in the lesion morphology between the dietary groups. Areas of disorderly endochondral ossification in the radial growth plate were associated with perpendicular growth cartilage infractions. Growth plate lesions were characterized by increased widths of the maturing cartilage zone without increased width of the proliferative zone or an increase in the daily rate of cell production. Focal growth plate lesions developed because of a transitory inhibition of cartilage mineralization and resorption. Disorderly foci of endochondral ossification beneath articular cartilage were characterized by an area of chondrocyte necrosis which prevented normal cartilage matrix mineralization. Lamellae of cartilage necrosis were also present within the reserve zone of the articular cartilage. These were associated with abnormalities of the cartilage canal vessels, and chondrocyte necrosis was considered to precede degenerative changes in articular cartilage matrix.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Articular cartilage blood vessels in swine osteochondrosis.

Perfusion studies in swine with early lesions of osteochondrosis demonstrated that lamellar areas of chondrocyte necrosis within reserve zones of growth areas occurred only in regions of nonperfused articular cartilage. Articular cartilage with a similar anatomical location was perfused in some animals. Occasionally, nonperfused articular cartilage showed vascular alterations within cartilage canals without evidence of significant perivascular or lamellar necrosis. By light microscopy, some vessels within or adjacent to nonperfused articular cartilage had normal morphology; however, ultrastructural abnormalities were found in some vessels of all cartilage canals adjacent to necrotic cartilage lamella. Minimal alterations were in the few cartilage canal vessels that appeared normal by light microscopy, and the surrounding chondrocytes showed only minimal alterations. Early cartilage canal alterations were seen in the endothelium of cartilage canal capillaries, and ultrastructural changes in these vessels were similar to those described with experimentally induced, direct vascular injury. Vascular injury was followed by leakage of plasma and cells into the interstitial space of the cartilage canal. Necrosis of the vessel wall and interstitial tissue caused the cartilage canals to appear empty or to be filled with fibrin-like material. Although the vascular changes could be considered as part of the normal process of cartilage maturation and cartilage canal chondrification, observations suggest that in domestic swine the attendant cartilage necrosis and chondrolysis is exuberant. It is suggested that alterations in cartilage canal vessels play a major role in the pathogenesis of articular cartilage lesions that are found in osteochondrosis of swine.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Scanning electron microscopic analysis of intraocular ossification in advanced retinal disease.

Chicken eyes from congenic blind (rd/rd) animals showing early, intermediate, and final stages of ossification, similar to the phthisis bulbi condition in man, were examined using scanning and transmission electron microscopy as well as light microscopy and X-ray microanalysis. Early stages of ossification were devoid of mineralized calcium apatite while intermediate and end stages of the disorder contained large amounts of calcium and phosphorus. This process resulted in metaplastic bone formation. An intact Bruch's membrane appeared to separate the choroid from the degenerated pigment epithelium and the developing bone suggesting that its possible origin was metaplasia of the retinal pigment epithelium and the degenerated sensory retina. The end-stage ossification resulted in "phthisic bone" formation which completely filled the vitreous cavity in a manner very similar to the human condition of phthisis bulbi.

Animals↗