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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Dog with coughing and lethargy had eosinophils in chest fluid

By Cowgill, Elizabeth & Neel, Jennifer·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2003·Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Pleural fluid from a dog with marked eosinophilia.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

A 12-year-old neutered male Shar-Pei was brought in for coughing, lethargy, and not eating for two days. X-rays showed fluid in the chest and a mass in the chest area. When the vet removed some of the fluid, tests showed a lot of eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) and a few abnormal mast cells, leading to a diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis, a serious type of cancer in dogs. Unfortunately, due to the poor prognosis, the decision was made to euthanize the dog.

People also search for: dog coughing lethargy not eating · Shar-Pei cancer symptoms · mast cell tumor treatment in dogs

Abstract

A 12-year-old neutered male Shar-Pei was presented to the North Carolina State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital cardiology service with a 2-week history of coughing and a 2-day history of lethargy and anorexia. Pleural effusion and a mediastinal mass were detected with thoracic radiographs. Ten mL of fluid were removed via thoracocentesis, and cytologic examination of the fluid revealed marked eosinophilic inflammation and few atypical mast cells. Mast cell neoplasia was suspected. Aspirates of the mediastinal mass, abdominal lymph nodes, and bone marrow contained similar pleomorphic mast cells and increased numbers of eosinophils. The dog was diagnosed with systemic (visceral) mastocytosis, a rare form of neoplasia in dogs, and was euthanized. These tumors carry a poor to grave prognosis and the etiology is uncertain.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12966467/