Page 3 - Clinical Connections- Autumn 2021

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

An Awakening

While autumn brings shortening days, There is also an article from the College’s
the activities here at the RVC are continuing Operational Interface Manager, Jo Payne,
to expand and this edition of Clinical talking about the value of the ongoing
Connections is chock full of things we think development of our Hawkshead Campus
might be of interest to you. in terms of wellbeing of our students, our
The start of the new academic year staff, and our clients. Like so many other
saw us welcoming a new cohort of future areas, progress on our major building project
veterinarians, veterinary nurses and biological involving new and expanded facilities for
scientists to the College as well as, of course, basic and clinical research, as well as a
our returning students. Most scheduled completely new Student Learning Centre, has
teaching has returned to “on-campus face- been adversely affected by the pandemic but
to-face” teaching, however because we we are now finally seeing light at the end of
felt the need to continue a degree of social the tunnel. When completed (hopefully) next
distancing, and hence increased numbers of spring, the new buildings will encompass a
smaller classes – at least until January – for new vaccinology and regenerative medicine
this term we are continuing to deliver our centre, a new library, vastly expanded student
lectures online. social learning spaces, three new lecture
By the time this issue is in press we will be warming up for theatres of different configurations, a new purpose-built teaching
the first London Vet Show in two years. The RVC has been laboratory and numerous offices and meeting rooms. In addition,
very proud to be an integral part of one of the largest, if not the it will finally provide an appropriate entrance gateway to the
largest, veterinary CPD events in Europe. Since its introduction campus as well as providing a link between the eastern and
in 2009, Professor Jill Maddison and our CPD unit have worked western buildings. Fair to say it will quite simply transform the
tirelessly to provide a CPD programme tailored for vets in Hawkshead Campus.
general practice that is not only relevant and practical, but also On the centre pages, Bettina Dunkel provides an excellent
inspiring. I hope like me many of you are really excited about update on the latest research and advances in practice for the
getting back to the ExCeL and actually catching up with people hugely important area of equine gastrointestinal disease. This
rather than interacting through a monitor. article is a must for anyone with any interest in the world of
As usual there are also a range of articles highlighting a range equine veterinary medicine.
of initiatives happening in our clinical centres. On the front page In May the RVC welcomed the first cohort of 25 registered
we talk about a really exciting advance in our ability to manage veterinary nurses onto our newly launched Graduate and
hepatic tumours, transarterial chemoembolisation or ‘TACE’. Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Nursing.
The concept of embolisation has been most studied in the Don’t miss Evi Yon’s article discussing the programme and
liver due to its unique blood supply and the relationship of this how undertaking these advanced qualifications can enhance
blood supply to that of liver tumours – most of the blood supply numerous aspects of any veterinary practice.
to a liver tumour is arterial through the hepatic artery, whereas There is also yet another article generated from the RVC’s
the predominant blood supply to normal liver parenchyma is VetCompass initiative. Currently over 30% of the veterinary
venous through the portal vein. practices in the UK are contributing to the VetCompass
TACE is a well-established treatment in human medicine, and database, making it an invaluable resource for uncovering what
while its use in veterinary patients is growing, the RVC is one is really happening in general practice as well as providing
of only a small number of hospitals offering this treatment in the data on a range of specialist clinical centres. This issue’s article
UK. It represents a novel, innovative and cost-effective treatment outlines various features of periodontal disease in companion
for non-resectable hepatic tumours or simply when owners animals by veterinary epidemiologist Dan O’Neill.
would not consider a surgical approach due to their perceived The huge surge in cases of feline pancytopenia reminded us
risks of surgery or the advanced age of their dogs. of the value, indeed the absolute necessity for, any specialist
Following on from our front-page story last autumn, centre to have access to a focused Transfusion Medicine
ophthalmologist Maria-Christine Fischer updates us on how the Service team and, of course, adequate numbers of both
upgrades to our new ophthalmic microscope have impacted feline and canine donors. On Page 10 Charlotte Russo, Head
upon what we can now achieve for not only our companion Transfusion Medicine RVN, talks about the range of cases that
animals but also our exotic and equine patients. can benefit from this hugely important resource.

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