Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with vomiting and lethargy diagnosed with Wilson's disease by MRI
By Durant, Natalie et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2025·Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Case Report: MRI Diagnosis of Wilson's Disease in a 3-Year-Old Dalmatian.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old Dalmatian was brought to the vet because he was not eating, vomiting, and seemed very tired. As his condition worsened, he started showing neurological symptoms. An MRI scan revealed changes in his brain, and further tests showed he had severe liver disease caused by too much copper in his system, a condition known as Wilson's disease. After starting chelation therapy, which helps remove excess copper, the dog's symptoms and MRI results improved significantly.
People also search for: Dalmatian vomiting and lethargy · dog liver disease treatment · Wilson's disease in dogs · MRI findings in dogs · dog copper storage disease
Abstract
A 3-year-old Dalmatian was presented with anorexia, vomiting, and lethargy that progressed to neurological signs with a mixed hepatopathy. MRI identified bilaterally symmetric, ill-defined hyperintensities in the thalamus, medial and lateral geniculate bodies, and red nuclei on T2-weighted (T2W) and transverse T2W fluid-attenuation inversion-recovery (T2-FLAIR) images, and bilaterally symmetric, ill-defined T1-hyperintensities in the lentiform nuclei and thalamus suggestive of an underlying metabolic dysfunction. Systemic workup revealed an underlying hepatopathy. A hepatic biopsy revealed severe copper-associated hepatitis with a digital copper quantification of 3052 µg/g dry weight. Clinical signs and MRI changes both improved following chelation therapy. The MRI findings and hepatic biopsy results led to a diagnosis of copper storage hepatopathy, consistent with Wilson's disease. This is the first description of brain MRI findings secondary to Wilson's disease in dogs.
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 on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40995805/