Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Intracorneal vacuoles in dog skin diseases with thickened skin cells
By Senter, David A et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2002·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Intracorneal vacuoles in skin diseases with parakeratotic hyperkeratosis in the dog: a retrospective light-microscopy study of 111 cases (1973-2000).
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with various skin problems, including Rottweilers and Siberian Huskies, were found to have a specific skin condition called congenital follicular parakeratosis (CFP), which causes abnormal skin cell development. Skin biopsies showed that many of these dogs had intracorneal vacuoles, which are small fluid-filled spaces in the skin, particularly in cases of primary idiopathic seborrhea and necrolytic migratory erythema. The study revealed that dogs with more severe skin issues were more likely to have these vacuoles, but only those with CFP had larger vacuoles. Understanding these findings can help veterinarians diagnose and treat skin diseases more effectively in dogs.
Abstract
Two recent case reports described a congenital keratinization defect (congenital follicular parakeratosis; CFP) in Rottweiler and Siberian Husky dogs. Skin biopsy specimens revealed marked parakeratosis targeting the hair follicle and numerous intracorneal vacuoles. A retrospective histopathological study was conducted on skin biopsy specimens from 111 dogs with diseases associated with parakeratotic hyperkeratosis to determine whether intracorneal vacuoles were present. Additional criteria evaluated were the size and location of the vacuoles and the degree of parakeratosis. Cases examined included dogs with primary idiopathic seborrhoea, necrolytic migratory erythema (NME), Malassezia dermatitis, zinc-responsive dermatosis, hereditary nasal hyperkeratosis of Labrador Retriever dogs, thallotoxicosis and CFP. Thirty-seven cases (37/111, 33%) had intracorneal vacuoles, including nine cases of primary idiopathic seborrhoea (9/29, 31%), 10 cases of NME (10/18, 56%), five cases of Malassezia dermatitis (5/19, 26%), five cases of zinc-responsive dermatosis (5/36, 14%), five cases of hereditary nasal hyperkeratosis (5/5, 100%) and three cases of CFP (3/3, 100%). If present, intracorneal vacuoles were found throughout all layers of the parakeratin. The sizes of intracorneal vacuoles varied among diseases, but large (> 5 microm) vacuoles only were present in CFP. Biopsies with a larger degree of parakeratosis were significantly more likely to have intracorneal vacuoles (P = < 0.001). Based on this study, intracorneal vacuoles are a common finding in many parakeratotic skin diseases of the dog, but large (> 5 microm) vacuoles are found only in CFP.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11896970/