Sallianne Schlacks

Interests

Teaching

Veterinary medicine, fundamental and clinical aspects of the internal organ systems of the veterinary species with emphasis on small animal species (dogs and cats). Special interest in active teaching methods including simulation labs, Peer Instruction and Team Based Learning techniques.

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• Schlacks, S. (2021).

  Posaconazole treatment of refractory coccidioidomycosis in dogs

  . Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 35(6), 2772-2777. doi:10.1111/jvim.16282
• Schlacks, S., Dial, S. M., Schlacks, S., Eichelberger, B. M., Dial, S. M., & Boozer, T. C. (2021). CT identifies pulmonary cryptococcosis in a domestic feline.. Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association, 62(5), E54-E57. doi:10.1111/vru.12809
  More info

  A domestic cat was presented for lethargy and coughing. Thoracic radiographs identified a mass within the right cranial lung lobe and a nodule in the left cranial lung lobe. Cryptococcus spp. was diagnosed via ultrasound-guided fine needle aspirate cytology. Despite fluconazole and prednisolone treatment, clinical signs progressed and suggested airway obstruction. Computed tomography revealed mass invasion into the trachea and other areas of the lower airway resulting in obstruction. Bronchoscopy was performed to debulk the tracheal mass and obtain biopsies. Histopathology confirmed Cryptococcus spp. At the time of this report, the patient remained clinically stable with daily itraconazole (5 mg/kg) treatment.
• Shubitz, L. F., Schlacks, S., Vishkautsan, P., Butkiewicz, C. D., & Worthing, K. A. (2021). Posaconazole treatment of refractory coccidioidomycosis in dogs. Journal of veterinary internal medicine, 35(6), 2772-2777.
  More info

  The majority of dogs with coccidioidomycosis recover with administration of fluconazole or itraconazole, although some cases are refractory or the dogs do not tolerate administration of these medications.
• Schlacks, S., Vishkautsan, P., Butkiewicz, C., & Shubitz, L. (2020). Evaluation of a commercially available, point-of-care Coccidioides antibody lateral flow assay to aid in rapid diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis in dogs. Medical mycology, 58(3), 328-332.
  More info

  Coccidioidomycosis in dogs can range from mild respiratory disease or vague, chronic malaise to acute, severe life-threatening illness. The diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis in dogs is based on clinical presentation and serology. Spherule identification is not typical because of low numbers of organisms in specimens, and the invasive nature of sampling tissues and lungs. Conventional serological assays require samples to be submitted to a reference laboratory and results take several days to one week. The sōna Coccidioides Antibody Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) (IMMY Diagnostics) is a rapid, bench-side test used for detection of Coccidioides antibodies that is available and FDA-cleared for use in humans but has not been evaluated in dogs. The goal of this study was to compare the LFA to conventional agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID). Paired serum samples were collected for screening by the LFA and submitted to a commercial reference laboratory for AGID screen and titer. Of 56 paired serum samples analyzed, 30 were positive and 26 were negative on the sōna Coccidioides antibody LFA. The overall percentage agreement plus 95% confidence interval (CI) was 87.5% (76.20-93.99). Positive percent agreement was 89.7% (73.38-96.65) and negative percent agreement was 85.2% (67.25-94.36). The kappa coefficient to assess agreement was 0.749 (95% CI, 0.576-0.923), which is interpreted as good agreement between the tests (>70%). The sōna Coccidioides antibody LFA provided rapid, point-of-care results with a high level of agreement to standard AGID serology in dogs clinically suspected to have coccidioidomycosis, and may aid in diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis in dogs.
• Schlacks, S. (2019). CT identifies pulmonary cryptococcosis in a domestic feline. Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound.