Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with aortic blood clot linked to Spirocerca lupi infection
By Gal, Arnon et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2005·School of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Aortic thromboembolism associated with Spirocerca lupi infection.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 2-year-old male Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was brought in after suddenly becoming unable to move his back legs and showing cold feet. An ultrasound revealed a blood clot blocking a major artery and an aneurysm in the abdomen, likely caused by a parasitic infection from Spirocerca lupi worms. Despite attempts to treat the blood clot and improve blood flow, the dog did not recover and was euthanized three days later. A necropsy confirmed the presence of the worms and the associated complications.
People also search for: dog paraplegia causes · Cavalier King Charles Spaniel blood clot treatment · Spirocerca lupi infection symptoms
Abstract
A 2-year-old male castrated Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was presented with paraplegia, cold caudal extremities and lack of femoral pulses. A 2cm long thrombus occluding the aortic trifurcation and a 3cm long abdominal aortic aneurysm with a thrombus were detected by ultrasonographic examination. The clinical and ultrasonographic findings were consistent with aortic thromboembolism. Anti-thrombotic and vasodilative therapy was not helpful and the dog was euthanized 3 days after the onset of paraplegia. A thrombus in the aortic trifurcation, multiple thoracic and abdominal aneurysms and a distal mediastinal esophageal granuloma containing Spirocera lupi worms were found on necropsy. The abdominal aortic aneurysms formed by S. lupi larval migration are believed to be responsible for the formation of the thrombus that occluded the aortic trifurcation. This is the first report of aortic thromboembolism associated with S. lupi infection.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15893430/