Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with muscle disease and heart block linked to hypothyroidism
By Nakamura, R K et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2012·Department of Cardiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Adult-onset nemaline myopathy in a dog presenting with persistent atrial standstill and primary hypothyroidism.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old mixed breed dog was brought in after showing signs of extreme tiredness, not wanting to eat, weakness, a swollen belly, and noticeable muscle loss over five days. The vet found that her heart was not beating properly and performed tests that showed issues with her heart and muscles. To help her, the vet implanted a permanent pacemaker and took muscle samples for further examination. The tests revealed a rare muscle condition called nemaline myopathy and signs of heart disease. After treatment, the dog was closely monitored for her recovery.
People also search for: dog lethargy and weakness · mixed breed dog heart problems · pacemaker for dogs · nemaline myopathy in dogs
Abstract
A nine-year-old neutered female mixed breed dog presented for evaluation following a five-day history of lethargy, inappetence, weakness, abdominal distension and generalised muscle atrophy. Persistent vatrial standstill with a junctional rhythm was identified on electrocardiogram. Echocardiogram identified moderate dilation of all cardiac chambers and mild thickening of the mitral and tricuspid valves. Serology was negative for Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii. Permanent pacemaker implantation was performed in addition to endomyocardial and skeletal muscle biopsies. Cryosections from the biceps femoris muscle showed numerous nemaline rod bodies while endomyocardial biopsies were possibly consistent with end-stage myocarditis. Rod bodies have rarely been reported in the veterinary literature. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of adult-onset nemaline rod myopathy and hypothyroidism with concurrent cardiac disease in a dog.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22647214/