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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Dogs with hemangiosarcoma can have tumors in both spleen and heart

By Boston, Sarah E et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2011·Department of Clinical Studies, Canada·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Concurrent splenic and right atrial mass at presentation in dogs with HSA: a retrospective study.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A 7-year-old golden retriever was diagnosed with a splenic mass and presented with a hemoabdomen, which is bleeding in the abdomen. During further tests, it was found that this dog also had a mass in the right atrium of the heart. This type of cancer, known as hemangiosarcoma (HSA), can spread to other areas, but in this case, the dog did not have any fluid around the heart. The findings suggest that while some dogs with splenic HSA may also have heart masses, the occurrence is less common than previously thought.

People also search for: dog splenic mass treatment · golden retriever heart cancer · hemoabdomen in dogs

Abstract

The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the presence of concurrent splenic and cardiac hemangiosarcoma (HSA). Dogs were divided into two groups: group 1 included 23 dogs with splenic HSA, and group 2 included 31 dogs with a cardiac HSA. All dogs were fully assessed for metastasis with thoracic radiography, abdominal and/or cardiac ultrasound, and/or postmortem examination. Two dogs (8.7%) in group 1 had a concurrent cardiac mass. Neither of these dogs had pericardial effusion, and both were golden retrievers. Thirteen of the dogs in group 1 presented with a hemoabdomen. Concurrent intra-abdominal metastasis was noted in seven dogs. In group 2, 9/31 (29%) of the dogs had a concurrent splenic HSA, and 13/31 (42%) of the dogs had evidence of metastasis to another site. There was a significant association between age and the presence of nonsplenic metastasis (odds ratio, 0.457). The rate of concurrent right atrial mass detected by cardiac ultrasound in dogs with splenic HSA was 8.7%, which is less than previously reported. For dogs with right atrial HSA, the risk of metastasis to nonsplenic sites decreases with age.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21852509/