Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Greyhound dog with body swelling and bleeding from mast cell disease
By A. Aceino et al.·Published in Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation·2020·View original on Semantic Scholar →
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Original publication title: Systemic mastocytosis with subcutaneous hemorrhage and edema in a Greyhound dog: case report and review of diagnostic criteria
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old spayed female Greyhound was brought in with a month-long history of swelling, bleeding, and pain in her belly. Tests suggested she had a type of cancer called mast cell neoplasia, which involves abnormal mast cells spreading throughout the body. Unfortunately, the dog was euthanized, and an autopsy confirmed severe swelling and bleeding caused by these cancerous cells infiltrating her skin and organs. This case highlights how mast cell tumors can sometimes cause unusual symptoms like bleeding and swelling, which are not commonly recognized in dogs.
People also search for: Greyhound dog bleeding belly · mast cell tumor symptoms in dogs · dog swelling and pain treatment
Abstract
Systemic mastocytosis, characterized by infiltration of multiple organs by neoplastic mast cells, is a well-described entity in human medicine with specific criteria for diagnosis, but is ill defined in veterinary literature. Hemostatic disorders are reported in humans affected by systemic mastocytosis but have not been well described in veterinary literature. A 5-y-old, spayed female Greyhound dog had a 1-mo history of progressive ventral cutaneous edema, hemorrhage, and pain. Cytology of an antemortem aspirate from the subcutis of the ventral abdomen was suggestive of mast cell neoplasia, but no discrete mass was present. The dog was euthanized and submitted for autopsy; marked subcutaneous edema and hemorrhage were confirmed. The ventral abdominal panniculus and dermis superficial to the panniculus carnosus were infiltrated by a dense sheet of neoplastic mast cells. The neoplastic cells contained toluidine blue–positive granules and formed aggregates within the bone marrow and several visceral organs, including the liver, spleen, heart, and kidney. Diffuse edema and hemorrhage is an unusual presentation of mast cell tumors in dogs. Antemortem tests, including complete blood count, coagulation profile, and viscoelastic coagulation testing, were suggestive of a primary hemostatic defect. We discuss here the diagnostic criteria used in humans, how these can be applied to veterinary patients, and the limitations of the current diagnostic framework.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/33164718