Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Risk factors for relapse of immune anemia in dogs
By Bannister, Sidney et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2024·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Relapse Risk Factors for Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia: A Retrospective Study of 163 Dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old Golden Retriever was diagnosed with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA), a condition where the dog's immune system attacks its own red blood cells. During treatment, the dog received multiple blood transfusions and had elevated bilirubin levels, which indicated a higher risk of relapse. After monitoring, it was found that dogs with higher bilirubin levels were more likely to experience a relapse of IMHA. This means that if your dog has IMHA and shows high bilirubin levels, it may need closer follow-up care to prevent a return of the condition.
People also search for: dog IMHA symptoms · Golden Retriever blood transfusion · dog high bilirubin levels treatment
Abstract
Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) is defined as an immune-mediated destruction of erythrocytes. Relapses are recognized, but risk factors are poorly defined. We hypothesized that a lower packed cell volume (PCV) on presentation, more transfusions during hospitalization, or a higher total bilirubin would be associated with an increased risk of relapse. IMHA was defined as a PCV less than 30% at diagnosis with two of the following identified: spherocytes, positive Coombs test, elevated total bilirubin, hemoglobinemia, or positive slide agglutination. This was a retrospective study evaluating 163 dogs between January 2005 and December 2019 from one specialty hospital. There were 13 relapses. The probability (95% confidence interval [CI]) of relapse by 3 and 12 mo was 0.05 (0.02-0.13) and 0.11 (0.06-0.22). The probability (95% CI) of relapse by 12 mo in patients who required two or more transfusions was 0.20 (0.09-0.42) compared with 0.07 (0.02-0.19) in patients who did not (P = .191). A lower PCV at diagnosis was not associated with an increased risk of relapse (hazard ratio [95% CI] 0.95 [0.86-1.04], P = .238). A higher total bilirubin was associated with a significantly increased risk of relapse (P = .003). With each increase of 1 mg/dL of total bilirubin, there was a 0.17 (95% CI 0.06-0.28) increase in the probability of relapse. These patients would likely need closer monitoring.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39235775/