Abstract
Sir,
I enjoyed reading the case report concerning a pleuroperitoneal hernia recently published in JFMS by Cariou et al from the Royal Veterinary College. 1 A remarkably similar case has been reported previously, also in JFMS, 2 but not cited in the paper. I would be interested in the authors comparing and contrasting the two case studies, and would like them to be linked electronically so that in the future clinicians interested in this type of abnormality may be able to cite both publications. May be this condition is more common than we think? It is also interesting that even with electronic databases and key word searches, it is so easy to miss pertinent papers.
Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
Sir,
Let us thank you for your interest in our publication and for the points which arose. Based on the published evidence, it may be that true congenital pleuroperitoneal hernias are more common than previously thought.
As you are aware, there are many papers pertaining to diaphragmatic hernia in the cat and it is simply not possible to cite them all, particularly in the bibliography of a case report. The authors agree that the patient in our report had similar radiographic findings as the patient in your paper. However, further diagnostic imaging confirmed the diagnosis of diaphragmatic hernia or rupture and a pulmonary mass was not considered further.
Queen Mother Hospital for Animals, Royal Veterinary College, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK