Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
CT angiography for diagnosing portal vein clots in dogs
By Sato, Keita et al.·Published in The Journal of veterinary medical science·2020·Department of Veterinary Medicine, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Diagnostic utility of computed tomographic angiography in dogs with portal vein thrombosis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 13 dogs diagnosed with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) were evaluated using a special imaging technique called CT angiography. The most common symptom noticed by their owners was vomiting, and many of these dogs also had pancreatitis. Blood tests showed that nearly all the dogs had elevated levels of a substance called D-dimer, which can indicate blood clots. The CT scans revealed the presence and location of blood clots in the portal vein, helping veterinarians understand the severity of the condition. This imaging method proved to be effective for diagnosing and monitoring PVT in dogs.
People also search for: dog vomiting portal vein thrombosis · CT angiography for dogs · pancreatitis in dogs symptoms
Abstract
Computed tomographic (CT) angiography, the gold standard for diagnosing portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in humans, is poorly documented in dogs. Therefore, we retrospectively reviewed dogs with PVT diagnosed by CT angiography. Medical records of 13 client-owned dogs diagnosed with PVT by CT angiography were reviewed. All dogs had chronic PVT, and the most frequent clinical sign was vomiting (5/13), with pancreatitis the most frequent concurrent disease (6/13). All dogs tested for plasma D-dimer concentration (12/12) revealed elevated levels. On CT angiography, a thrombus was detected as a non-contrast enhancement structure in the portal vessel of 13 dogs. There was no evidence of complete obstruction of the portal vein in any of the dogs. The median luminal filling of the portal vein was 60.4%. The thrombus extension was variable among dogs, with a median of 34.9 mm. CT angiography identified the thrombus in the main portal vein of 12/13 dogs and multiple thrombus formation other than the main portal vein in 9/13 dogs. CT angiography provided specific information such as detecting the presence, location, and number of PVT in dogs. Therefore, CT angiography might be useful for the diagnosis and follow-up evaluation of PVT in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32814748/