Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with left heart tumor causing weight loss and diarrhea
By Foale, R D et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2003·The Queen's Veterinary School Hospital, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Left ventricular myxosarcoma in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 2-year-old Neapolitan mastiff was brought to the vet because he had been experiencing chronic diarrhea and weight loss for several months. After tests, the vet found a large mass around the heart that was pressing on it, which turned out to be a low-grade malignant tumor called myxosarcoma. The tumor was surgically removed, and the dog recovered well, remaining healthy for nine months. Unfortunately, the diarrhea and weight loss returned, and the dog was diagnosed with tumor recurrence and local spread, leading to his euthanasia about a year after the surgery.
People also search for: dog weight loss and diarrhea · Neapolitan mastiff heart tumor · myxosarcoma treatment in dogs
Abstract
An entire male Neopolitan mastiff, aged two years and eight months, presented with a history of chronic diarrhoea and weight loss. The diarrhoea had been present for approximately 12 months and had progressively worsened, with weight loss developing over an eight-week period prior to presentation. No primary gastrointestinal or metabolic cause for the diarrhoea could be identified. Echocardiography revealed a large, multilocular, cyst-like structure within the pericardium compressing the heart and displacing it to the right. The mass was surgically excised from the left ventricular myocardium. Histopathological examination showed it to be a low-grade malignant myxosarcoma. The dog made a full recovery and was still clinically normal nine months postoperatively, with no evidence of tumour recurrence or metastases. However, 11 months postsurgery, the clinical signs of diarrhoea and weight loss returned. Tumour recurrence with local metastasis was diagnosed and the dog was euthanased 358 days after the original surgery.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14635963/