Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Canine hypoadrenocorticism: Insights into the Addisonian crisis.
- Journal:
- The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne
- Year:
- 2023
- Authors:
- Chalifoux, Nolan V et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences (Chalifoux · Canada
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
This study looked at 84 dogs diagnosed with hypoadrenocorticism, also known as Addison's disease, at a veterinary college over a 20-year period. The researchers found that dogs in critical condition often showed signs like collapsing and being very depressed, and they had specific lab results that were different from dogs that were less severely affected. Interestingly, the most common trigger for their crisis was being separated from their owners. The findings suggest that recognizing these unique signs in critically ill dogs can help veterinarians identify the disease earlier.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Primary objectives of this study were to determine presenting complaints, physical examination, clinicopathologic findings, and hospitalization time of dogs with spontaneous hypoadrenocorticism presenting with critical disease; and to compare those end points to dogs with a more stable presentation. Secondary objectives were to evaluate the shock index and to identify precipitating stressors. ANIMALS: Eighty-four dogs at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine between 1998 and 2018 were included. PROCEDURE: Data were retrieved from the medical records. RESULTS: Collapse and depression were more common among critically ill dogs. Hyperlactatemia was rare despite a diagnosis of hypovolemic shock, and a shock index was ineffective in this patient subset. Isosthenuria, total hypocalcemia, and more severe acidosis were more common (< 0.05) in critical dogs. Owner separation was the most common precipitating stressor. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: We concluded that the critical Addisonian dog has unique characteristics that may aid in early disease identification.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37138712/