Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Goiter with abnormal blood vessels in Polish Lowland sheepdog puppies
By Kuczynski, Leslie Anne et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2012·School of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Goiter with vascular anomalies in a litter of Polish Lowland sheepdogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Three Polish Lowland sheepdog puppies, around 4-5 months old, were brought to the vet because they had noticeable lumps in their necks. Tests showed that these lumps were enlarged thyroid glands with abnormal blood vessels, and the puppies had low levels of thyroid hormones, although they didn't show signs of thyroid issues besides the goiter. One of the puppies also had a heart condition that was fixed with surgery. After treatment, all three puppies were healthy and doing well two years later.
People also search for: Polish Lowland sheepdog goiter treatment · puppy thyroid problems · dog neck lumps causes
Abstract
At approximately 4-5 mo of age, three Polish Lowland sheepdog puppies from a single litter of eight puppies presented to their respective primary veterinarians with bilateral subcutaneous masses in their ventral cervical regions. Evaluation, including thyroid function testing, surgical exploration with resection, computed tomography, and angiography, identified the masses as enlarged thyroid glands with severely dilated and abnormal vasculature in the regions of the glands. The dogs were also found to have serum concentrations of thyroid hormones that were below the reference ranges. None of the three dogs showed clinical signs of hypothyroidism, except for the presence of goiter. One dog also had a patent ductus arteriosus that was surgically repaired. All dogs were clinically normal at 2 yr of age. This is the first report of major vascular anomalies associated with goiter in any species. The mechanism is unknown.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22611215/