Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Two dogs with essential thrombocythaemia causing anemia and low
By Favier, R P et al.·Published in Tijdschrift voor diergeneeskunde·2004·Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Netherlands·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Essential thrombocythaemia in two dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Two dogs were brought to the vet because they were having trouble exercising and their gums looked pale. Blood tests showed they had a condition called essential thrombocythaemia, which means they had too many platelets and other blood issues. The vet started them on medications, but after three weeks, the dogs didn't improve and their condition worsened. Unfortunately, both dogs had to be euthanized six weeks later due to severe complications from the treatment.
People also search for: dog pale gums · dog exercise intolerance · essential thrombocythaemia treatment in dogs · dog blood test results · dog blood disorder symptoms
Abstract
In this report two dogs with essential thrombocythaemia (ET) are described. Both dogs were presented more or less at the same time with a combination of reduced exercise tolerance and pale mucous membranes without any report of blood loss. Moderate-to-severe, Coomb's-negative anaemia and thrombocytosis (> 1249 x 10'/l) were present. In addition, the peripheral blood smear revealed the presence of basophilia and large numbers of abnormally shaped megakaryocytes in the bone marrow of both dogs. Treatment with vincristine (0.7 mg/m2 once intravenously) and hydroxyurea (500 mg/m2 p.o. per day) was started. Because of insufficient response to treatment after 3 weeks, the dosage of hydroxyurea was increased in both dogs to 2000 mg/m2 p.o. per day. The dogs deteriorated further, however, and were euthanized at 6 weeks after the start of treatment. Blood examination revealed pancytopenia in both dogs, most likely due to the myelosuppressive effects of high-dose hydroxyurea. A survey of veterinary literature on ET is presented, including a comparison of ET in humans.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15211905/