Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Signs and outcomes of leptospirosis in 99 dogs in Germany
By Knöpfler, S et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2017·Clinic for Small Animals, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of clinical, laboratory, imaging findings and outcome in 99 dogs with leptospirosis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 99 dogs diagnosed with leptospirosis showed serious symptoms like lethargy, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Many had abnormal lab results indicating issues with their kidneys and liver, and over half had lung problems. Unfortunately, 32 of these dogs did not survive, especially those with severe lung involvement. Treatment often included supportive care, but the prognosis was poor for those with significant organ damage.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To report clinical, laboratory and diagnostic imaging features and prognostic factors in dogs with leptospirosis from North-East Germany. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of dogs diagnosed with leptospirosis from 2006 to 2013 were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: The study included 99 dogs. At initial presentation, the most common clinical signs were lethargy (96%), anorexia (88%), vomiting (85%), painful abdomen (39%), diarrhoea (38%), oliguria (27%) and tachypnoea (26%). Abnormal laboratory findings included anaemia (63%), thrombocytopenia (63%), leucocytosis (57%), increase of plasma urea (84%) and creatinine concentrations (81%), increased liver enzyme activities (80%), hyperbilirubinaemia (69%), hyperphosphataemia (67%), hyponatraemia (64%), hypoalbuminaemia (55%) and hypokalaemia (29%). Radiological pulmonary changes were detected in 57% of the dogs initially or during the course of disease. Severe dyspnoea, oliguria, azotaemia, hyperbilirubinaemia and severe radiological pulmonary changes were more often found in dogs that did not survive. There was renal, hepatic and pulmonary involvement in 95, 92 and 58% of the dogs, respectively, and multi-organ lesions in 98 dogs (98%); 32 dogs died or were euthanased. CONCLUSION: Several clinical and laboratory abnormalities were associated with a negative outcome; severe lung involvement was specifically associated with high mortality.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28804909/