Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with liver peliosis and milky fluid in abdomen
By Gulay, Kevin Christian Montecillo et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2021·Department of Clinical Sciences, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Peliosis Hepatis with Chylous Ascites in a Dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old spayed female Toy Poodle was brought to the vet because her belly was swollen. Tests showed that the fluid in her abdomen was high in triglycerides, indicating a condition called chylous ascites, which can occur with liver problems. The vet found that her liver had multiple small masses and cyst-like structures, leading to a diagnosis of peliosis hepatis, a rare liver condition. Unfortunately, the specific cause was not identified, but the dog was treated based on these findings. The outcome of the treatment is not detailed, so it's unclear how she responded.
People also search for: dog swollen belly · Toy Poodle liver disease · chylous ascites treatment in dogs
Abstract
A 6-year-old spayed female Toy Poodle dog was referred to the Hokkaido University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for abdominal distension. Abdominocentesis yielded ascitic fluid that had a mildly increased total protein concentration and a 2.7-fold higher triglyceride concentration than plasma, and was interpreted as chylous ascites. The patient had an enlarged liver, which contained multiple, small, nodular masses and cyst-like structures. Microscopically, these lesions were multifocal dilated spaces containing lymphocytes, endothelial cells, fibrin and islands of hepatocytes. Increased α-smooth muscle actin-positive cells were observed in hepatic sinusoids. Based on these findings, we diagnosed peliosis hepatis with chylous ascites, which is likely to have been due to lymphangiectasia and disrupted hepatic sinusoids. Neither Bartonella spp DNA nor mutations in ACVRL1 and MTM1 genes were detected, although there was a 47-fold increase in hepatic ACVRL1 expression compared with age-matched control liver. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of chylous ascites resulting from peliosis hepatis in any species.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34503655/