Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with heart and eye blastomycosis treated successfully with azole
By Langlois, Daniel K et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2013·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Successful treatment of intracardiac and intraocular blastomycosis in a dog with combination azole therapy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 4-year-old spayed female Labrador retriever was brought in for signs of blindness, skin lesions, coughing, loss of appetite, and lethargy. After tests, she was diagnosed with a serious fungal infection called blastomycosis that had spread throughout her body, affecting her heart and eyes. Despite her condition worsening during treatment, she received a combination of two antifungal medications, itraconazole and fluconazole, which successfully treated the infection. Remarkably, she regained her vision in one eye and showed no signs of heart disease afterward.
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Abstract
A 4 yr old spayed female Labrador retriever with clinical signs of blindness, cutaneous lesions, coughing, inappetence, and lethargy was diagnosed with disseminated blastomycosis based on cytologic (skin and lymph node aspirates) and histopathologic (skin biopsy) examinations of tissue samples. The dog deteriorated clinically during hospitalization and developed sustained ventricular tachycardia. Echocardiography revealed pericardial effusion, a nodule associated with the left ventricular papillary muscle, and a right atrial mural lesion. Therapy for myocardial performance and glaucoma was initiated. A combination of itraconazole and fluconazole successfully treated the dog. The dog regained vision in the left eye (oculus sinister [OS]) and had no residual cardiac disease detectable by either electrocardiography or echocardiography. This report is unique in documenting survival from intracardiac blastomycosis and in the use of combination azole therapy for treating disseminated disease with intraocular involvement.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23690485/