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For a summary of the GI Standardization Group in a printable brochure format, please use the following link:
WSAVA GI Project Brochure
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On the heels of the successful accomplishments of the WSAVA Liver Diseases and Pathology Standardization Research Group, the WSAVA has formed the Gastrointestinal Standardization Group with the goal of obtaining a world-wide standard for the histopathological evaluation of the gastrointestinal tract of dogs and cats. This standardization project will provide a wide range of benefits including uniform diagnosis of disease, staging of disease, and the subsequent development of controlled clinical trials for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. The group is comprised of 12 individuals with expertise ranging from internal medicine to pathology and represents an international collaborative endeavour with sponsorship graciously provided by Hill's Pet Nutrition.

This work was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Hills Pet Nutrition.

WSAVA Gastrointestinal Standardisation Group Members:
Convener: Dr Robert Washabau, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Dr Thomas Bilzer, University of Dusseldorf, Germany
Dr Michael Day, University of Bristol, UK
Dr Grant Guilford, Massey University, New Zealand
Dr Ed Hall, University of Bristol, UK
Dr Albert Jergens, Iowa State University, USA
Dr Joanne Mansell, Texas A&M University, USA
Dr Takeo Minami, Histo-Vet, Pet-Vet, Yokohama, Japan
Dr Brian Wilcock, University of Guelph/HistoVet, Canada
Dr Michael Willard, Texas A&M University, USA

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Standardized GI Endoscopy Reporting Forms

The upper and lower GI endoscopy report forms linked below, represent the work of the WSAVA Working Group on GI Histopathology. The group recognized early the need to also standardize endoscopic examination and sampling of the GI tract to ensure the highest procedural diagnostic yield. These endoscopy report forms help address this, namely that endoscopic examination is complete and thorough. Ongoing work is looking at the number of mucosal biopsies needed to ensure diagnosis of different lesions as well as the effect of quality of endoscopic biopsy on the likelihood of diagnosis. The GI Standardization Group hope that we will soon have standards of histological interpretation based upon an analysis of naturally occurring case clinical features.

These forms have been officially endorsed by the Comparative Gastroenterology Society (CGS) and the European Society of Comparative Gastroenterology (ESCG).

• Upper GI Endoscopy Report Form
• Lower GI Endoscopy Report Form

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2007 Report of the GI Standards Group
by Robert Washabau VMD, PhD, Diplomate ACVIM

The WSAVA GI Standardization Group met at the 2007 ECVIM Congress in Budapest, Hungary to set the stage for the completion of several projects that they have underway during the next 3 � 12 months. The Group has produced a manuscript titled International Standards for the Histopathological Diagnosis of Gastrointestinal Inflammation in the Dog and Cat, which has been submitted to the Journal of Comparative Pathology for peer-review and anticipated publication in 2008. The manuscript is a 57-page monograph that will be the first systematic characterization, featuring both text and pictorial representation, of the inflammatory and morphological changes within the stomach, small intestine, and colon of the dog and cat due to a variety of gastrointestinal diseases. It is the Group�s belief that following publication, the monograph will serve as the sole standard reference for clinicians, internists, and pathologists in their diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease and other disorders. At the ECVIM Congress, the Group also presented one research abstract titled Sensitivity of Endoscopic Biopsy Sampling for the Detection of Gastric and Intestinal Lesions, which it intends to publish in its entirety during 2008. This will represent the second in a series of peer-reviewed publications emanating from the Group. The full abstract is available through the WSAVA website, among other avenues. The group is also currently testing the WSAVA Histopathology Standards they have developed by applying the monograph guidelines to an archive of 253 slides with over 2,500 tissue biopsies from nine different institutions in six different countries with study completion and publication expected in 2008.
During the past year, the Group�s Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Guidelines were endorsed by the American and European Comparative Gastroenterology Societies and are available on the WSAVA website for viewing and clinical use. Additionally, the Group has been asked by the ACVIM Board of Regents to prepare an ACVIM Consensus Statement on Guidelines for Histopathological Assessment of Intestinal Inflammation in the Dog and cat for the 2008 ACVIM Forum in San Antonio. ACVIM Consensus Statements are designed to provide veterinarians with guidelines regarding the pathophysiology, diagnosis, or treatment of animal diseases. The foundation of the Consensus Statement is evidence-based medicine, but if such evidence is conflicting or lacking, the appointed panels provide interpretive recommendations on the basis of their collective expertise. Topics of statements and panel members to draft the statements are selected by the Board of Regents with input from the general membership. The Group will present its preliminary report at a Full Plenary Session at the ACVIM Forum on June 7, followed by a more formal publication of our Consensus Statement in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the Fall of 2008.
The Group will also present a one-hour �final report� of its work at the WSAVA 2008 Congress in Dublin, Ireland.
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2005 Report of the GI Standards Group
by Robert Washabau VMD, PhD, Diplomate ACVIM

The WSAVA Gastrointestinal Standardization Group was initially developed to obtain a world-wide standard for the histological evaluation of gastrointestinal tract disease of cats and dogs. At the present time, a number of histological grading schemes have been proposed but none are universally accepted. Consequently, an intestinal biopsy sent to four different pathologists may result in four different biopsy reports. This is true of many gastrointestinal disorders (e.g., malignancy, toxicity, infection, lymphatic dilation, inflammation, villus atrophy), but it is particularly true of inflammatory bowel disease. The situation is further complicated by different nomenclatures for the same disease or disease severity in different parts of the world. With the support of the WSAVA, the Gastrointestinal Standardization Group has proposed to develop a standardized histologic evaluation system that will be applied to all companion animal gastroenterologic disorders. Standardization will yield several obvious benefits including uniform diagnosis of disease, staging of disease, and the subsequent development of controlled clinical trials for the treatment of canine and feline gastrointestinal disorders.

Read more....

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GI Standards Group Inagural Announcement (PDF File)

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