Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
A retrospective study of tracheal collapse in small-breed dogs: 110 cases (2022-2024).
- Journal:
- Frontiers in veterinary science
- Year:
- 2024
- Authors:
- Kim, Mi-Rae et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Science · South Korea
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
This study looked at small-breed dogs with tracheal collapse, a condition where the windpipe becomes narrowed. Researchers reviewed the medical records of 110 dogs, aged 2 to 19 years, to see if the severity of their coughing was related to how severe the tracheal collapse was. They found that while most dogs had a higher body condition score (meaning they were overweight), the location and severity of the collapse did not actually relate to how bad the coughing was. However, after treatments like losing weight and making changes to their environment, about 87% of the dogs showed improvement in their symptoms. Overall, the treatment worked well for most of the dogs.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The grade of tracheal collapse (TC) is assessed by the diameter of the narrowed lumen. However, studies on the relationship between TC grade and clinical symptom severity are lacking. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical characteristics of small-breed dogs diagnosed with TC and determine if fluoroscopic grading correlates with cough severity. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records from 2022 to 2024. TC diagnosis was confirmed using fluoroscopic examination. Multiple linear regression was employed to investigate factors influencing cough severity, with a significance level set at < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 132 dogs with TC were identified, of which 22 were excluded. The final cohort consisted of 110 dogs, aged between 2-19 years, with no significant sex differences. The majority (97.2%) of dogs had a BCS of ≥4. Among the top four breeds (Maltese, Pomeranian, Poodle, and Chihuahua), the most severe collapse was observed in the carinal region. The grade of collapse on fluoroscopy was mostly related to high BCS ( < 0.007) and low body weight ( < 0.001). However, interestingly, fluoroscopic findings of collapse location and grade did not correlate with cough severity ( = 0.350). Notably, clinical symptoms improved in 86.6% of cases following interventions such as weight reduction, environmental changes, and pharmacotherapy. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In small-breed dogs, the severity of cough was not associated with the region or grade of TC diagnosed by fluoroscopy.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39205804/