Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Acute pancreatitis in cats with fatty liver disease
By Akol, K G et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·1993·Department of Clinical Studies, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Acute pancreatitis in cats with hepatic lipidosis.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with liver disease (hepatic lipidosis) was examined, and it was found that 38% of them also had inflammation of the pancreas (acute pancreatitis). These cats showed similar symptoms, but those with pancreatitis were often more underweight and had issues with blood clotting. While some imaging tests revealed problems in the pancreas and fluid in the abdomen, the recovery rate for cats with both conditions was only 20%, compared to 50% for those with just liver disease. This highlights the importance of checking for pancreatitis in cats diagnosed with hepatic lipidosis, as it can significantly affect treatment and recovery.
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to characterize the incidence, clinical features, and prognosis of acute pancreatitis in cats with hepatic lipidosis. Of 13 cats histologically diagnosed with hepatic lipidosis between July 1988, and November 1989, 5(38%) were also histologically diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. In cats with hepatic lipidosis alone, the signalment, history, physical examination, and clinicopathologic findings were generally indistinguishable from those of cats with concurrent acute pancreatitis except that cats with acute pancreatitis were more likely to be cachectic and to have coagulation abnormalities. Hepatomegaly was seen on abdominal radiographs in both groups. Of the 5 cats with concurrent acute pancreatitis, abdominal ultrasonography detected 1 cat with a hypoechoic pancreas and 5 with peritoneal effusion; those abnormalities were not seen in cats without concurrent acute pancreatitis. Cats with concurrent acute pancreatitis had only a 20% recovery rate, compared with a 50% recovery rate in cats with hepatic lipidosis alone. We conclude that cats with hepatic lipidosis should be rigorously evaluated for concurrent acute pancreatitis because of 1) the rate of disease coincidence, 2) the inability of signalment, history, physical examination, and clinicopathologic findings to adequately distinguish between hepatic lipidosis and acute pancreatitis, 3) the worse prognosis associated with concurrent acute pancreatitis, and 4) the opposing nutritional strategies for hepatic lipidosis and acute pancreatitis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8246208/