2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

The overarching theme of participants' discussions was that the specialist and referral center should act as an extension of the care the referring veterinarian provides to their clients and patients. The relationship that participants had with their clients was a significant driver of their expectations of the specialist and referral care. Participants spoke about wanting to remain involved in the horse's care when the horse was under the specialist's care. Participants spoke about desiring mutual respect, collegiality, professionalism, and trust in the relationships they had with specialists. Communication played a central role in many of the positive experiences participants shared, and it was perceived to be an essential component of the referral process. Displeasure and frustration were voiced about referral centers that competed with the referring veterinarian's practices or solicited their clients. Strengthening the relationship of referring veterinarians and specialists has the potential to improve the referral process, as well as patient and client outcomes. Function of EPCs (such as vascular tubule formation) have been shown to be altered in people with metabolic syndrome, indicating that EPCs may be integral to endothelial dysfunction and microvascular disease in those patients. Our group has recently isolated and characterized EPCs using a whole blood adherence method from 5 mL jugular venous samples in horses, and 3/24 horses (12.5%) produced colonies. The purpose of this study was to optimize the isolation of EPCs from horses so that future diagnostic and therapeutic uses could be explored.