Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Update

By Cathie Trutch

Spring 2006, NEWS

For the past two years, the Westie Foundation and the AKC Canine Health Foundation have been jointly funding a research project, headed by Dr. Brendan Corcoran, on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) in the U.S. and the UK. Dr. Corcoran, of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh, Scotland, spoke to a seminar sponsored by the Westie Foundation of America covering the history and treatment of the disease as well as the current research. A summary of Dr. Corcoran's presentation is found on the WFA website
(http://www.westiefoundation.org/seminars/ipf.htm).

Dr. Corcoran's full PowerPoint presentation can be found on the same website at (http://www.westiefoundation.org/seminars) by going to the bottom of that page.The following is an update from Dr. Corcoran regarding the current status of his study and plans for furthering that investigation.

Dr. Corcoran's update:

The initial study investigating the clinical features and diagnosis of IPF in the Westie is drawing to a close. This has been co-funded by the Westie Foundation of North America and the Canine Health Foundation of the American Kennel Club. The recruitment of cases for the study was partially successful, but did not achieve the intended target. This was due to a variety of reasons, not least the complication of organizing a study of this nature on two different continents! Nevertheless, we hope we have enough cases and enough collected data to draw meaningful conclusions. The intention is to try and recruit a few more cases in Scotland, but not in the USA, and the study finish date is the end of June 2006. Between now and then the main task will be data collation and analysis. The biggest task will be the interpretation of hundreds of Computed Tomography (CT) scan images and this will be carried out by diagnostic imagers in the USA, Scotland and possibly Australia. This part of the study has some guidelines to draw on as we have recently published CT data from a pilot study that looked at Westies and Cairn terriers in Scotland with IPF. For those Westie owners that are interested, you should be able to access this paper at www.Blackwell- synergy.com/ and look for "Johnson et al, Journal of Small Animal Practice (August 2005) Volume 46: pages 381-388."

Once the data is analyzed then the next important step is to disseminate any conclusions to the veterinary community worldwide and to interested and concerned Westie owners. From the results of the study we can then formulate new plans as to how to advance our understanding of this disease further. The two obvious areas that need research are finding the underlying cause of this devastating disease and aiming to improve therapy for those dogs that are affected. These are two very complex areas of investigation, but with the right resolve, co-operation and funding they are not insurmountable.

Dr Brendan Corcoran
The University of Edinburgh,
March 2006.

With further work, it may be possible to use HRCT (High Resolution Computed Tomography) as a non-invasive tool for diagnosing, staging and therapeutic monitoring IPF-affected dogs.

In addition to the Journal of Small Animal Practice article referenced in Dr. Corcoran's update, (abstract is free; full article costs $39), you might want IDIOPATHIC PULMONARY FIBROSIS UPDATE By Cathie Trutch (Continued on page 4) (IPF Update continued from page 3) to access the following articles on IPF:

(http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/content/abstract/144/22/611) "Chronic pulmonary disease in West Highland white terriers" by Dr. Corcoran and others. The abstract is free, but the full article is $15).

(http://www.vetpathology.org/cgi/content/abstract/42/1/35) "Interstitial Lung Disease in West Highland White Terriers" by A.J.Norris, et al. Both the abstract and the full article are free.

Dr. Corcoran's '61rticle ("Thoracic high-resolution computed tomographic findings in dogs with canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis") in the Journal of Small Animal Practice referenced in his update above can be accessed at the Blackwell website mentioned in his update by following the links on the left side of the Blackwell site under "All Journal by Subject", then by "Veterinary Medicine" at the end of the list.

We will provide additional information on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis as it becomes available through Dr. Corcoran's ongoing research. The WFA hopes to continue funding additional IPF research by Dr. Corcoran after he develops new IPF research grant proposals.