Abstract Objectives —To assess the effect of increasing serum lithium concentrations on lithium dilution cardiac output (LiDCO) determination and to determine the ability to predict the serum lithium concentration from the cumulative lithium chloride dosage. Animals —10 dogs (7 males, 3 females). Procedure —Cardiac output (CO) was determined in anesthetized dogs by measuring LiDCO and thermodilution cardiac output (TDCO). The effect of the serum lithium concentration on LiDCO was assessed by observing the agreement between TDCO and LiDCO at various serum lithium concentrations. Also, cumulative lithium chloride dosage was compared with the corresponding serum lithium concentrations. Results —44 paired observations were used. The linear regression analysis for the effect of the serum lithium concentration on the agreement between TDCO and LiDCO revealed a slope of -1.530 (95% confidence interval [CI], -2.388 to -0.671) and a yintercept of 0.011 ( r 2 = 0.235). The linear regression analysis for the effect of the cumulative lithium chloride dosage on the serum lithium concentration revealed a slope of 2.291 (95% CI, 2.153 to 2.429) and a y-intercept of 0.008 (r 2 = 0.969). Conclusions and Clinical Relevance —The LiDCO measurement increased slightly as the serum lithium concentration increased. This error was not clinically relevant and was minimal at a serum lithium concentration of 0.1 mmol/L and modest at a concentration of 0.4 mmol/L. The serum lithium concentration can be reliably predicted from the cumulative lithium dosage if lithium chloride is administered often within a short period. ( Am J Vet Res 2002;63:1048–1052)
Summary and Conclusions Monoglycerides, prepared from cottonseed oil, were fed to three generations of rats at a 15% and a 25% level as the sole source of fat in the diet. Refined cottonseed oil was fed to comparable groups of rats at the same levels. No significant differences were found between the monoglycerides and the cottonseed oil in their nutritive value as measured by growth response, reproduction ability, and lactation performance. Absorption of fatty acids, either as monoglycerides or as the original oil, from the intestinal tract was the same as shown by essentially equal coefficients of absorption for the two types of lipid at a 25% level in the diet.
Abstract Objectives —To determine agreement of cardiac output measured by use of lithium dilution cardiac output (LiDCO) and thermodilution cardiac output (TDCO) techniques in dogs and to determine agreement of low- and high-dose LiDCO with TDCO. Animals —10 dogs (7 males, 3 females). Procedure —Cardiac output was measured in anesthetized dogs by use of LiDCO and TDCO techniques. Four rates of cardiac output were induced by occlusion of the caudal vena cava, changes in depth of anesthesia, or administration of dobutamine. Lithium dilution cardiac output was performed, using 2 doses of lithium chloride (low and high dose). Each rate of cardiac output allowed 4 comparisons between LiDCO and TDCO. Results —160 comparisons were determined of which 68 were excluded. The remaining 92 comparisons had values ranging from 1.10 to 12.80 L/min. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between lowdose LiDCO and TDCO was 0.9898 and between high-dose LiDCO and TDCO was 0.9896. When all LiDCO determinations were pooled, ICC was 0.9894. For determinations of cardiac output < 5.0 L/min, ICC was 0.9730. Mean ± SD of the differences of TDCO minus LiDCO for all measurements was -0.084 ± 0.465 L/min, and mean of TDCO minus LiDCO for cardiac outputs < 5.0 L/min was -0.002 ± 0.245 L/min. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance —The LiDCO technique is a suitable substitute for TDCO to measure cardiac output in dogs. Use of LiDCO eliminates the need for catheterization of a pulmonary artery and could increase use of cardiac output monitoring, which may improve management of cardiovascularly unstable animals. ( Am J Vet Res 2001;62:1255–1261)