Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Signs and treatment of Addisonian crisis in dogs
By Chalifoux, Nolan V et al.·Published in The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne·2023·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences (Chalifoux, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Canine hypoadrenocorticism: Insights into the Addisonian crisis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with Addison's disease (a condition where the adrenal glands don't produce enough hormones) presented with severe symptoms like collapsing and depression. The study found that these critically ill dogs often experienced issues like low calcium levels and severe acidosis, but hyperlactatemia (high levels of lactate in the blood) was rare. Interestingly, being separated from their owners was a common trigger for their crisis. Recognizing these signs can help veterinarians identify and treat Addison's disease more effectively, improving outcomes for affected dogs.
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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.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37138712/