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Clinical Research News
(Including funding success)
July 2024
Kennel Club - Runner Up Award
Yeonsoo Choi an undergraduate student at Bristol Veterinary School was awarded runner up in the Kennel Club student inspiration award ICHA - Kennel Club Charitable Trust for her project researching acute kidney injury working with our Head of Renal Medicine, Natalie Finch.
Companion BSAVA - Highly Commended Award
India Law a recent Bristol Veterinary School graduate was awarded highly commended in the Companion | BSAVA student project abstract competition for her project entitled ‘Fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23) in cardiorenal syndrome in cats with chronic kidney disease’ undertaken under the supervision of Dr Natalie Finch and Prof Melanie Hezzell.
Latest news & stories  Our Clinical Research Updates
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Research and Teaching
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Research and Teaching
ECVIM Congress Barcelona 2023
Angie Hibbert, our feline lead delivered an excellent lecture discussing the challenges of antimicrobial therapy in cats.
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Research and Teaching
Notes on Canine Internal Medicine
We are proud of both Vicki Black, Small Animal Hospital Director and Rosie Payne, Senior Cardiologist who are both authors of a newly released textbook ‘Notes on Canine Internal Medicine’ Fourth Edition.
Recent Publications
Choose one of the business areas below to see recent publications from each team:
Actively Recruiting Studies
Mitral Valve Clinic
The Mitral Valve Clinic at Langford Vets is run by Prof Melanie Hezzell, a specialist veterinary cardiologist with a PhD in the epidemiology of canine myxomatous mitral valve disease. The Mitral Valve Clinic is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of canine myxomatous mitral valve disease. Participating dogs typically attend the clinic every 6 months. At each visit they undergo comprehensive monitoring of their disease, including a full clinical examination, blood pressure measurement, an ECG, an ultrasound of their heart and blood and urine tests. The clinic aims to collect information about how the disease develops and progresses over time, and the factors that determine why some dogs have mild, non-progressive disease while others have a severe, rapidly progressive phenotype.
The clinic aims to benefit both current patients, by providing heavily subsidised expert monitoring for dogs with mitral valve disease and future patients, by investigating how and why this disease develops and progresses. Our goal is to develop new treatments and therapies that will improve the dogs’ lives. The clinic also nurtures the next generation of veterinary clinical researchers by providing opportunities for veterinary surgeons to undertake Masters by Research and PhD studentships.
For more information, please contact Melanie Hezzell: mh16511@bristol.ac.uk or Langford Vets Small Animal Hospital reception 0117 394 0513.
Langford Vets Clinical Research Fund
Langford Vets has a clinical research fund to support research projects undertaken by Langford Vets employees and University of Bristol employees who work within Langford Vets clinics.
Here are some of the latest projects that have been funded:
Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP)
Use of machine learning in the diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis
Principal Investigator: Dr Emi Barker
A collaborative study with Ohio State University, University of California Davis, and University of Sydney.
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a fatal disease of cats. Diagnosis can be challenging; therefore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is being explored as a tool for facilitating in diagnosis. A form of AI, machine learning (ML), has the potential to predict a diagnosis of FIP and potentially response to treatment more accurately than an experienced clinician.
However, in order for ML to generate accurate algorithms – and subsequently test the accuracy of those algorithms – a large set of clinical and clinicopathological data from cats with a diagnosis of FIP and similar cats with an alternate diagnosis is required.
As part of an international collaborative study (PIs Dr Samantha Evans at Ohio State University, and Dr Krystle Reagan at University of California Davis – veterinary specialist with a track record of investigating FIP and ML) clinical history and clinicopathological results for cats diagnosed with FIP and signalment-matched (age / breed / sex) cats without FIP will be reviewed and shared anonymously. These cats will be retrospectively recruited via the Langford Vets Small Animal Hospital, Langford Vets Small Animal Practice, and University of Bristol Feline Infectious Peritonitis Biobank.
These data would be used to determine the accuracy of ML in the diagnosis of FIP from clinical and routine clinicopathological data.
Does a non-steroidal...
Does a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) combined with paracetamol give a greater opioid sparing effect in the peri-operative period than an NSAID alone in dogs undergoing tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO)?
Principal Investigator: Robin Stallard
This study aims to assess the opioid sparing effect of intravenous paracetamol in dogs undergoing a routine orthopaedic surgery. Clients presenting their dogs to the hospital for unilateral tibial plateau levelling osteotomy can opt in to the study. There will be a test group receiving IV paracetamol and a control group that does not. The dogs will all receive a standard anaesthetic/surgical management protocol with the only difference being the study group will also receive 10mg/kg paracetamol IV every 8 hours starting at the time of induction of anaesthesia. The dogs will be regularly assessed for pain after the surgery and additional analgesia (methadone 0.1mg/kg IV) will be given if required. The total dose of methadone required will be compared between groups to assess the opioid sparing effect of 10mg/kg paracetamol IV.
The impact of Simini antiseptic lavage...
The impact of Simini antiseptic lavage solution on Pseudomonas biofilm on three different orthopaedic implant materials.
Principal Investigator: Daniel Lomas
Simini is a lavage solution that is used intra-operatively to reduce biofilm on orthopaedic implants in the presence of infection or in surgeries with a higher expected infection rate e.g revision surgery. The solution does not contain antibiotics and is a combination of active ingredients. It therefore aims to reduce the use of antibiotics in orthopaedic surgery. In addition, biofilms are inherently resistant to penetration by antibiotics. Simini has been theorised to have a synergistic effect with antibiotic therapy by weakening or disrupting the bacterial biofilm.
The effectiveness of this solution has not been demonstrated on pseudomonas biofilms which is commonly isolated bacteria from veterinary orthopaedic infections and tends to form implant biofilms easily. In addition, the effectiveness on 316L stainless steel, which is the most used material in veterinary orthopaedic implants, has not been investigated.