Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with shifting leg lameness diagnosed with megakaryoblastic
By Pucheu-Haston, C M et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1995·Department of Veterinary 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 We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above.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: Megakaryoblastic leukemia in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old spayed Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog was brought in for shifting lameness in her front legs, loss of appetite, and extreme tiredness. The vet found that she had a fever, an enlarged spleen, low platelet counts, and anemia. Tests showed that her bone marrow was filled with abnormal cells called megakaryoblasts, which are linked to a type of blood cancer known as megakaryoblastic leukemia. Unfortunately, the dog's condition was severe, affecting multiple organs, and she did not survive.
People also search for: dog lameness and lethargy · Catahoula Leopard dog cancer symptoms · megakaryoblastic leukemia in dogs
Abstract
A 7-year-old spayed Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog was examined to determine the cause of shifting forelimb lameness, anorexia, and lethargy. The dog was pyrectic and had splenomegaly, thrombocytopenia, and nonregenerative anemia. Examination of a bone marrow aspirate revealed hypocellularity with normal maturation of erythroid and granulocytic cell lines; however, approximately half of the cells were large undifferentiated blast cells. These cells were identified as megakaryoblasts, using immunohistochemical techniques to detect reactivity for Factor VIII-related antigen and platelet glycoprotein IIIa. Necropsy revealed diffuse neoplastic involvement of the spleen, liver, lungs, bone marrow, and lymph nodes. Cellular infiltrate was characterized by a mixture of megakaryoblasts and typical megakaryocytes. Megakaryoblastic leukemia (M7) is the designation proposed by the Animal Leukemia Study Group for myeloproliferative neoplasms of megakaryocytic lineage.
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/7601714/