Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with autoimmune myasthenia gravis and dysautonomia symptoms
By Gajanayake, I et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2008·Dick White Referrals, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Autoimmune myasthenia gravis and dysautonomia in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 2-year-old male border collie was brought to the vet with symptoms including diarrhea, coughing, vomiting, and difficulty urinating. Upon examination, the dog showed breathing problems and a distended bladder, and tests revealed issues like megaesophagus and aspiration pneumonia. Unfortunately, the dog's condition worsened, leading to euthanasia. A post-mortem examination indicated that he had both autoimmune myasthenia gravis (a condition affecting muscle control) and dysautonomia (a disorder of the autonomic nervous system).
People also search for: dog vomiting and diarrhea · border collie breathing problems · myasthenia gravis in dogs · dog aspiration pneumonia treatment
Abstract
A two-year-old male entire border collie dog was evaluated for a short history of mixed bowel diarrhoea, coughing, vomiting and stranguria. Physical examination revealed dyspnoea with increased ventral lung sounds and a flaccidly distended bladder. Neurological examination revealed poor pupillary light reflexes, an absent gag reflex and a poor anal tone. Thoracic radiography was consistent with megaoesophagus and aspiration pneumonia. Clinicopathological testing revealed an elevated muscular nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antibody titre. The dog was euthanased because of clinical deterioration. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected immediately post-mortem revealed macrophagic pleocytosis. Post-mortem histopathological examination was consistent with dysautonomia. This is the first report of coexisting autoimmune myasthenia gravis and dysautonomia in a non-human species. The concomitant diseases may suggest a common immunopathological aetiology.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18684149/