Pleural effusions in cats

Re: Pleural effusions in cats

Anthony Todd — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 11:28:20 GMT

[quote user="robloxley"]assuming you don't, say, have a poorly exfoliating neoplastic mass and the cytology comes back clear and the cardiac measurements are borderline (my last PE!)[/quote]

Sorry, should have said "give all the answers except with a poorly exfoliating neoplastic mass,or some other rare pathology, in which case start a logical progression of diagnostic tests, having eliminated the most common causes".

Be illuminating so see just how common the various aetiologies are and just how many would not be picked up by my SG and cytology.

Re: Pleural effusions in cats

Rob Loxley — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 08:08:50 GMT

[quote user="Anthony Todd"]we just did a SG and cytology which seemed to give all the answers[/quote]

assuming you don't, say, have a poorly exfoliating neoplastic mass and the cytology comes back clear and the cardiac measurements are borderline (my last PE!)

Re: Pleural effusions in cats

Anthony Todd — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 08:23:39 GMT

[quote user="robloxley"]Yes they can be frustrating,[/quote]

Far be it for a dinosaur to get involved in modern medicine but we just did a SG and cytology which seemed to give all the answers.

Isn't this a good example of modern slot machine diagnosis but where the vital diagnostic buttom is pushed last, if at all?

[I well remember cases being referred and expiring whilst "decent" X rays were attempted, sometimes just by being positioned!]

Drainage and diuretics seemed to clear the fluid, even though it recurred but, for sure, many of them, depending on cytology, didn't do well.

Re: Pleural effusions in cats

Rob Loxley — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:42:20 GMT

Yes they can be frustrating, not sure any big tips beyond your workup so far, except maybe re-radiograph when the fluid has cleared to check for a mass.

Would say that I xray few immediately as ultrasound is such a quick and easy way to pick up the effusion, and xrays are often not helpful until the fluid has cleared.

I have found that some of the heart failure cats can do quite well, and find that vetmedin (off label) often seems to help a great deal (added to frus/ACEi).