Is This Cushing's and Do I Care?

Kelly Cairns, DVM, MS, DACVIM

Dr. Kelly Cairns, DVM, MS, DACVIM (SAIM), graduated veterinary school from CSU, completed a small animal rotating internship at Cornell, and completed a small animal internal medicine residency at OSU before obtaining her Diplomate status. She enjoyed a rewarding clinical practice as an internist and medical director of a multi-specialty/ER hospital. Today, Dr. Cairns currently serves as Vice President of Medical Excellence and Education for the 400+ hospitals in the Thrive Pet Healthcare family.

Overview:

This lecture will take a practical look at an often frustrating disease. We will discuss diagnostic testing for both PDH and AT Cushing's disease with a focus on why and when to consider each test. We will tackle the conundrum of when you should consider controlling symptoms of this disease with chronic medical therapy verses benign neglect. We will consider the complications of the disease that warrant monitoring and intervention. We will explore the importance of client education in the management of this chronic medical condition to meet expectations and minimize patient morbidity.

Learning Objectives:

To understand when to use each type of diagnostic test for diagnosis of Cushing’s disease with understanding of the limitations of each test modality
To understand the difference between sensitivity and specificity and how these things impact the utility of each type of diagnostic test
To understand the complications known to occur with Cushing’s disease and how to monitor for each of these
To understand the key points which should be included in client education on Cushing’s disease
To develop a rationale strategy for monitoring the patient with Cushing’s disease if treatment is not instituted

This course is RACE-approved for 1.0 continuing education credits hours in jurisdictions that accept RACE-approval.