Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Long-term immunosuppressive treatment for immune anemia in dogs
By Sugawara-Suda, Mei et al.·Published in The Journal of veterinary medical science·2023·Department of Clinical Sciences, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Investigation of the therapeutic effects, predictors, and complications of long-term immunosuppressive therapy in dogs with precursor-targeted immune-mediated anemia.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with a serious blood condition called precursor-targeted immune-mediated anemia (PIMA) were treated with long-term immunosuppressive therapy to help their bodies stop attacking their own red blood cells. Out of 27 dogs studied, 18 responded well to the treatment, with most showing improvement within 60 days. However, some dogs took longer to respond, up to 126 days. While the treatment was effective for many, some dogs experienced complications like pancreatitis and pneumonia. This information can help pet owners understand what to expect when their dog is undergoing treatment for this condition.
People also search for: dog anemia treatment · immune-mediated anemia in dogs · dog pancreatitis symptoms · immunosuppressive therapy side effects in dogs
Abstract
Dogs with precursor-targeted immune-mediated anemia (PIMA) are commonly treated with immunosuppressive therapy, but information on predictors of treatment response and response time is limited. Therefore, we retrospectively investigated predictive factors that influenced the treatment response and duration required to observe a response in dogs with PIMA receiving continuous immunosuppressive therapies for more than 105 days. Of 50 client-owned dogs that developed PIMA, 27 were included in this study, of which 18 were responders and 9 were non-responders to immunosuppressive therapies. Sixteen of the 18 responders responded to treatment within 60 days and the remaining 2 responded at 93 and 126 days, respectively. We found that an erythroid-maturation ratio of <0.17 may be a useful predictor for treatment response. In addition, complications of immunosuppressive therapies were investigated further in 50 dogs. Pancreatitis (n=4) and pneumonia (3) occurred over the entire treatment period, and infections such as abscesses (3) tended to be more common in dogs on an extended period of immunosuppressive therapy. These findings may be helpful when planning for the initial treatment and may provide evidence for informed consent about potential comorbidities throughout the treatment course.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37245993/