Litter size in utero was estimated with an ultrasonic Doppler apparatus ("Heart-tone" USD-1, Aloka Co. Ltd., Tokyo) in 16 pregnant sows inciuding three different breeds. In 15 out of 16 sows, experimental period was from 80 to 114 days of pregnancy, while in the remaining one sow experiments were undertaken during 58 to 107 days of pregnancy. Each experiment was carried out non-surgically at a sleeping position with neither restraint nor anaesthesia.The results obtained were as follows.1) In 5 out of 20 experiments, the estimated litter size was in accord with the actual number farrowed at parturition. In the remaining 15 experiments, however, errors of the estimation ranged from -5 to +3 piglets.2) Cases of which the errors were less than ±1, ±2 and ±3 piglets, were 9 out of 20 (45%), 14 out of 20 (70%) and 17 out of 20 (85%) experiments, respectively.3) The accuracy of estimation of the litter size tended to be higher after 91 days of pregnancy than before 90 days (P <0.10), and it tended to be low when the actual number of fetuses was more than 10, as compared with less than 9 piglets.4) No harmful effects were observed in both fetuses and dams by the ultrasonic treatment used in this study.
In the diseases of the abdomen or bowels of a horse, especially in acute pains of the organs, the condition of the heart is an important factor as one of the prognostic signs; the acceleration of the heart beat, irregular changes of the heart sounds and remarkable increase of the heart rate to a frequency of over 100 beats per minute, are all noteworthy symptoms for the patient in connection with the disease. Especially, remarkable increase of the heart rate is diagnosed as prognosis infausta generally. The characters and degrees of the heart dysfunctions take various forms, and the author has had clinical experience in many kinds of heart irregularities in disease. It is necessary to learn what kind of heart irregularities are occurring, in order to decide a prognosis of the patient. In this paper, the author describes the results obtained from the electrocardiographical tests on one case of horse, which was suffering from an attack of colic with concomitant heart dysfunctions. Abnormal electrocardiograms, containing several factors, which are evidences of sinus arrhythmia, ectopic focus stimulation arising in the auricle, premature ventricular beats and paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia, were recorded.
Liver lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes in normal and diseased cows were analyzed electrophoretically. This method (histoelectrophoresis) was improved for the direct analysis of tissue LDH isoenzymes. The mean values of LDH1 through LDH5 in the livers of normal cows were 31.7, 24.8, 27.3, 12.8, and 3.3%, respectively. In cases with hydropic degeneration of the liver, the patterns revealed increases of LDH1 and LDH2 as compared to normal cows. The patterns showed a decrease of LDH1 and an increase of LDH2 in fatty change of the liver. Congestion of the liver alone decreased LDH1 and increased LDH3, LDH4 and LDH5. Necrosis of the liver decreased LDH1 and LDH2, and increased LDH3, LDH4 and LDH5. It was suggested that the functional hepatocellular damage due to anoxia might be a important factor of the change of liver LDH isoenzyme patterns. We have attemped to standardize the LDH isoenzyme patterns by using a computer under various conditions. In cases with hydropic lesions, the diagnostic sensitivity (DS) was 53% (28 of 53 cases) and the predictive value of positive tests (PVPT) was 100% (28 cases of 28 cases selected). In cases with congestive or necrotic lesions, DS was 41% (9 of 22 cases) and PVPT was 69% (9 cases of 13 cases selected).
Pregnancy diagnosis by the ultrasonogram method was carried out in a captive 13 years old female Hokkaido brown bear. Two fetuses were detected in the left abdomen. The fetus transverse diameter was 5.2 cm and the heart rate was 180 beats/min. Further improvement is necessary to diagnose the number of fetuses by our method, for she gave birth to 3 cubs 4 days later.
