Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pancreatic disease signs and tests in dogs explained
By Aupperle-Lellbach, Heike et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2020·Laboklin GmbH & Co KG, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Histopathological findings and canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity in normal dogs and dogs with inflammatory and neoplastic diseases of the pancreas.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 72 dogs with various pancreatic issues had their tissue and blood samples tested to better understand pancreatic diseases. The study found that dogs with serious acute pancreatitis had high levels of a specific enzyme (cPLI), which can indicate inflammation in the pancreas. In some cases, dogs with pancreatic tumors also showed signs of inflammation and elevated cPLI levels. This information can help veterinarians diagnose and treat dogs with pancreatic problems more effectively.
People also search for: dog pancreatitis symptoms · high cPLI levels in dogs · pancreatic tumors in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of pancreatic diseases in dogs is still challenging because of variable clinical signs, which do not always correspond with clinical pathology and histopathological findings. OBJECTIVES: To characterize inflammatory and neoplastic pancreatic diseases of dogs and to correlate these findings with clinical findings and canine pancreatic lipase immunoreactivity (cPLI) results. ANIMALS: Tissue specimens and corresponding blood samples from 72 dogs submitted for routine diagnostic testing. METHODS: Four groups were defined histologically: (1) normal pancreas (n = 40), (2) mild pancreatitis (n = 8), (3) moderate or severe pancreatitis (acute, n = 11; chronic, n = 1), and (4) pancreatic neoplasms (n = 12). An in-house cPLI ELISA (<180 μg/L, normal; >310 μg/L, pancreatitis) was performed. RESULTS: In dogs with normal pancreas, 92.5% of serum cPLI results were within the reference range and significantly lower than in dogs with mild acute pancreatitis, moderate or severe acute pancreatitis and pancreatic tumors. In dogs with moderate or severe acute pancreatitis, cPLI sensitivity was 90.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 58.7%-99.8%). Most dogs (9/12) with pancreatic tumors (group 4) had additional pancreatic inflammation and cPLI results were increased in 10 dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: High cPLI indicates serious acute pancreatitis but underlying pancreatic neoplasms should also be taken into consideration. This study confirms the relevance of histopathology in the diagnostic evaluation of pancreatic diseases.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32379386/