title: The clinical pathology and pathophysiology of heartwater: a review.
abstract: This paper reviews the available literature on the clinical pathology and pathophysiology of heartwater and makes comparisons with unpublished results obtained from a recent study in experimentally-induced heartwater in calves. The pathophysiological changes seem to center on an increased capillary permeability the result of which is reflected most noticeably in cardiac and lung function. There is a marked drop in cardiac output in severe cases and some workers have recorded a severe drop in diastolic blood pressure in the advanced stage of the disease. Changes in lung function are variable, depending on the stage of the disease, and may change from a respiratory alkalosis in the early febrile stage to a respiratory acidosis in more advanced cases. The basic cause for the increased capillary permeability is not known. The main clinical pathological changes measured include a progressive anaemia, fluctuations in total and differential white cell count, of which an eosinopenia and a lymphocytosis are the most marked, increases in total bilirubin which coincide with darkening of plasma colour, and a drop in total serum proteins mostly shown in the albumin levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Van Amstel
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Guthrie
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Reyers
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bertschinger
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Oberem
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Killeen
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Matthee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006357:Heartwater Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology