Page 10 - Clinical Connections- Summer 2021
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Research News



        VETCOMPASS VIRTUAL VET CLINIC APP
        The RVC has launched a novel interactive app, offering veterinary   the immediate Covid crisis, the app is anticipated to remain a
        students a mixed reality veterinary learning experience from their   significant contributor to the learning of undergraduates.
        mobile phones, allowing them to apply real-world thinking and   The app builds on real-world experiences of veterinary students
        rules in a virtual environment.                      by replicating typical caseloads and clinical first-opinion veterinary
          The VetCompass Virtual Vet Clinic app is free to download   practice scenarios, in a readily accessible virtual world. Students
        on both iOS and Android. It was developed within the RVC’s   can use the structured clinical skills approaches provided in
        VetCompass research team, with the collaboration of the   the app to develop their veterinary clinical reasoning and case
        University of Surrey’s School of Veterinary Medicine. It was   management skills, using clinical information sourced from
        launched as part of the RVC’s structured response to the   anonymised and randomised data on over 20,000 dogs. The app
        disruption of real-world placements in veterinary practices due   was conceived by Dr Dan O’Neill (RVC) and Dr Neerja Muncaster
        to the pandemic. The app aims to fill some of the gaps caused   (University of Surrey) and complements a series of other novel
        by restriction of full access to the clinical environment. Beyond   innovations developed within the VetCompass programme.
















        THE FUTURE OF CANNINE EPILEPSY                        MACHINE-LEARNING TO DIAGNOSE
        RESEARCH                                              CUSHING’S SYNDROME
        A new RVC study has identified improving drug management and   Researchers within the VetCompass team have developed
        the development of new antiepileptic medication as key research   machine-learning algorithms with the potential to support and
        priorities to benefit dog owners, general practice veterinarians and   improve diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome in dogs.
        specialist veterinary neurologists in treating idiopathic epilepsy in   Cushing’s is one of the most common endocrine diseases
        dogs. The study highlights the importance of ensuring the views   affecting dogs. Affected animals are also at increased risk
        of owners are integrated into the direction of future research   of developing other diseases, such as diabetes mellitus,
        planning.                                             hypertension and pancreatitis, making a fast and accurate
          Analysing the results of an online survey, the team was able   diagnosis even more important.
        to identify the areas of canine epilepsy research deemed most   Obtaining a timely diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome is crucial
        important by 414 owners of dogs with epilepsy, veterinary   in providing the best possible course of treatment. However,
        neurologists and general practice veterinarians. It also assessed   the condition can be challenging to diagnose given that the
        how these views changed from 2016 to 2020. Key findings   clinical signs are often non-specific, such as polyuria, polydipsia,
        include:                                              increased appetite, a potbellied appearance, muscle weakness,
          •  The research areas with the highest perceived importance   alopecia, panting and lethargy.
            were improving existing drug management of epilepsy, the   Diagnosis confirmation has historically required multiple blood
            development of new medications and improving the education   tests, but this process can be time consuming, expensive and
            of vets regarding epilepsy                        does not always provide accurate results. With PhD funding from
          •  The research areas ranked as the highest priorities were the   Dechra Veterinary Products, the researchers sought to address
            development of new antiepileptic medications, identifying   these diagnostic challenges by using anonymised data from 939
            genetic causes of epilepsy, and non-drug management of   dogs tested for Cushing’s syndrome from a population of 905,554
            epilepsy                                          dogs across 886 UK veterinary practices.
          •  Of 10 non-drug therapies, the five rated to have the   Using structured clinical data and looking at the dogs’
            highest potential positive impact on epilepsy management   demographics, clinical signs at presentation and laboratory results,
            were behaviour management, gene editing, CBD oil   machine-learning algorithms were applied to predict a future
            supplementation, MCT oil supplementation and surgery  diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome. Dogs suspected of having
        Priorities differed between vets and owners, with owners   Cushing’s were included in the analysis and classified based on
        prioritising day-to-day quality of life issues for their dog, such   their final reported diagnosis within their clinical records.
        as behavioural issues or the side effects from medications.   The findings indicate that the machine-learning algorithm could
        In contrast, the vet groups prioritised clinical issues, such as   reliably predict the diagnosis of a practising veterinarian and
        identifying the genetic causes of epilepsy and how different types   provides evidence of the potential for machine-learning methods to
        of seizures are classified.                           contribute to diagnostic improvements in clinical practise.
            The research paper, ‘Research priorities for idiopathic epilepsy in dogs:   The research paper, ‘Machine-learning based prediction of Cushing’s
            Viewpoints of owners, general practice veterinarians, and neurology specialists’   syndrome in dogs attending UK primary-care veterinary practice’ was
        was published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine and is available open   published in Scientific Reports and is available open access at:
        access at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.16144  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-88440-z


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