Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Long-term bile acid levels in dogs after portosystemic shunt surgery
By Bristow, P et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2017·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Long-term serum bile acid concentrations in 51 dogs after complete extrahepatic congenital portosystemic shunt ligation.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 51 dogs that had surgery to correct a congenital liver shunt were monitored for long-term bile acid levels. After an average follow-up of over five years, most of the dogs showed a significant decrease in bile acids after eating, indicating improved liver function. The study found that mild increases in bile acids were not a concern as long as the dogs appeared healthy and showed no signs of illness. Overall, the surgery was successful, and the dogs maintained good health post-treatment.
People also search for: dog liver shunt surgery recovery · bile acid test results in dogs · signs of liver problems in dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To report the long-term bile acid stimulation test results for dogs that have undergone complete suture ligation of a single congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected from the hospital records of all dogs that had undergone a complete suture ligation of a single congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt. Owners were invited to return to the referral centre or their local veterinarian for repeat serum bile acid measurement. Dogs diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy and undergoing bile acid stimulation tests were used as a comparison population. RESULTS: Fifty-one study dogs were included, with a mean follow-up time of 62 months. 48 dogs had no evidence of multiple acquired shunts and a significant reduction in the pre- and post-prandial serum bile acid concentrations at long-term follow-up compared with pre-operative measurements. Pre- and post-prandial serum bile acids were statistically significantly greater for dogs that had undergone a full ligation (with no evidence of multiple acquired shunts) at all time points compared to the control dogs (P<0·001 for all comparisons). CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The results suggest that in dogs treated with complete suture ligation mild increases in serum bile acids are not clinically relevant if there are no physical examination abnormalities, a normal body condition score and no relapse in clinical signs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28660694/