Vet Tobi Wagner with a happy Chester and Graeme and Kathryn Arthur
Hampshire Referral Hospital Is First In UK To Offer Complex Intrahepatic Shunts Treatment For Dogs
1 week ago 
277 views
A cutting-edge procedure to give dogs with a rare liver condition the chance at a normal life is being offered for the first time at a UK referral centre.
Southern Counties Veterinary Specialists (SCVS) in Ringwood, Hampshire, has so far transformed the fortunes of five dogs using the complex technique to treat intrahepatic shunts.
To date IVC Evidensia centre SCVS is the only British referral hospital able to carry out the operation, with Dr Tobi Wagner working alongside Professor Matthias Schneider, from the University of Giessen in Germany.
Professor Scheider developed the new technique over many years and travelled to the UK to train the team at SCVS for the groundbreaking surgery.
“Other treatments usually don’t fully close the shunts,” said Dr Wagner, an RCVS Specialist in Cardiology and EBVS European Specialist in Veterinary Cardiology.
“So, the patients often require lifelong medication, a special liver diet and will eventually still die as a result of the constant toxin stream reaching the body.
“With this new technique the patients can look forward to having a completely normal life.”
Patients with a hepatic shunt have a short-cut connection between blood returning from the gastrointestinal tract and the rest of the body. The shunts, or short cuts, can occur outside the liver (extrahepatic shunts) or inside the liver (intrahepatic shunts).
If outside, it can be corrected surgically via ligating the vessel. But intrahepatic shunts are highly problematic as the vessel is hidden in the middle of the liver.
It’s a rare condition seen in fewer than 0.5% of dogs, but one that causes distress to owners and treatment difficulties for vet practices seeing the patients.
Dr Wagner was aware of Professor Schneider’s work through a previous internship at the University of Giessen and had honed some of his interventional skills alongside him.
Professor Scheider had devised and modified the intrahepatic shunt procedure over a number of years and has established the technique in around 100 patients in Germany.
“It requires advanced vascular catheterisation skills which I have due to the large amounts of minimal invasive cardiac interventions we perform,” said Dr Wagner.
“The patients need to stay with us between five days and a week and the first couple of days after the operation are absolutely critical.
“There can be complications due to bleeding and in one case we would have lost the patient if it hadn’t been for our excellent ICU set up.
“I am convinced that this new technique will be gradually become the first choice for closing intrahepatic shunts as it is a more modern approach to the stent and coil technique commonly used to date, with a terrific rate of positive outcomes. To date, SCVS will be the only centre in the UK offering this.”
It can take up to two years for the shunt to totally close. But follow-up checks have shown that has happened in the vast majority of cases and the patients have a normal future ahead of them.
Diagnosis can be made elsewhere, with owners only having to travel to SCVS for the operation. So far, the centre has seen cases from as far away as the Channel Isles and Northern Ireland.
Graeme and Kathryn Arthur made the 1000-mile round trip from their County Antrim home with their two-year-old rescue border collie Chester.
“We got Chester from the Dogs Trust and there was no indication at first that he was unwell,” said Graeme. “But quite soon after he started passing blood, pushing his head into the floor and just looking dazed and vacant.”
The couple were referred to SCVS and were delighted with the outcome.
“He’s had no relapse at all and is just a bundle of energy,” added Graeme. “He is the absolute picture of a normal, healthy dog and we can’t thank Tobi and the Southern Counties team enough.
“It’s great that this option is now available for pet owners here in the UK.”
Professor Schneider has travelled to the UK to train the team at SCVS carrying out the procedures, with two patients usually being scheduled each time.
“I am looking forward to doing more procedures with Professor Schneider and it may not be long before he’ll just supervise remotely and we’ll do them without him,” added Dr Wagner.
“We are really excited to be doing this and making such a difference.
“We’re expecting to see cases come here from all over the country."
More from IVC Evidensia UK & IE
- New training centres set to revolutionise veterinary training and development
- IVC Evidensia Farm Vets roll out cow signals training across UK practices
- Derby hospital hosts full day anaesthesia CPD for nurses
- Double celebration for Norfolk vet with ISVPS recognition and board appointment
- Birmingham vets help paralysed cat walk again
