Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Thyroid hormone changes in critically ill dogs with SIRS
By Giunti, Massimo et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary science·2017·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Retrospective evaluation of circulating thyroid hormones in critically ill dogs with systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of critically ill dogs with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) showed changes in their thyroid hormone levels, which can indicate a non-thyroidal illness (NTI). The study looked at 41 dogs with SIRS and found that those with septic SIRS had lower thyroid hormone levels and higher illness severity scores compared to non-septic dogs and healthy controls. This suggests that NTI is common in dogs with severe illness and may be linked to more serious conditions like sepsis. Understanding these changes can help veterinarians assess the severity of illness in dogs with SIRS.
People also search for: dog thyroid hormone levels · symptoms of systemic inflammatory response syndrome in dogs · septic SIRS in dogs
Abstract
Critical illness can be associated with transient alterations in circulating thyroid hormone concentrations, indicating the presence of non-thyroidal illness (NTI). NTI is well described in humans, but there are few reports on its occurrence and prognostic significance in dogs. This retrospective study assessed the occurrence of NTI in a population of dogs with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and investigated its association with disease severity (APPLEscores). A total of 41 SIRS dogs were included and were divided by SIRS origin (non-septic SIRS, n = 10; septic SIRS, n = 41) and final outcome (survivors, n = 37; non-survivors, n = 4). Healthy, age-matched dogs (n = 15) were included as controls. Serum thyroid hormone levels including total T3, free T3, total T4, and reverse T3 were measured upon admission. Compared to controls, there were significant changes in serum thyroid hormone concentrations in SIRS dogs, suggesting the presence of NTI. Septic SIRS dogs had higher APPLEscores and lower serum thyroid hormones concentrations than those in non-septic SIRS and control dogs. In conclusion, NTI was frequent in dogs with SIRS and may be associated with the presence of sepsis or high illness severity.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28057899/