BONE LESIONS IN FOUR DOGS WITH VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS

Abstract

Skeletal radiographs of four dogs with confirmed visceral leishmaniasis were reviewed. The dogs had lived in the Mediterranean area for six to 36 months prior to returning to the United States, where they lived for an additional six to 41 months before clinical signs appeared. Clinical findings included lameness, fever, cutaneous lesions, muscle atrophy, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, and weight loss. The dogs exhibited two distinct radiographic patterns. Periosteal proliferation and increased intramedullary radiopacity of long and flat bones occurred in two dogs. Osteolysis of bones of the carpus, tarsus, and stifle was noted in two dogs. Differences in radiographic appearance were presumed to be due to different hematogenous routes of infection. Leishmaniasis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of dogs that have traveled in endemic areas and exhibit the described radiographic changes.