Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Tumor blood clots in two dogs with insulin-secreting pancreatic tumors
By Hambrook, Lydia E & Kudnig, Simon T·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2012·Department of Internal Medicine, Australia·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Tumor thrombus formation in two dogs with insulinomas.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old male Staffordshire Bull Terrier and a 9-year-old male Boxer were brought in for intermittent neurological issues like muscle tremors, disorientation, and seizures. Both dogs had low blood sugar and high insulin levels, and surgery revealed pancreatic tumors that had spread into nearby blood vessels. The veterinarians removed the tumors and the associated blood clots during surgery. After the procedure, both dogs showed improvement, with their symptoms resolving and blood sugar levels returning to normal for over a year after surgery.
People also search for: dog seizures treatment · insulinoma in dogs · pancreatic tumor surgery for dogs
Abstract
CASE DESCRIPTION: A 9-year-old sexually intact male Staffordshire Bull Terrier and a 9-year-old neutered male Boxer were evaluated for intermittent neurologic signs including muscle tremors, ataxia, episodic collapse, disorientation, and seizures. CLINICAL FINDINGS: Both dogs had low blood glucose and high serum insulin concentrations. Results of abdominal ultrasonography were unremarkable for both dogs. Exploratory laparotomy revealed a mass that extended from the body of the pancreas into the pancreaticoduodenal vein in each dog. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: Marginal resection of pancreatic masses was performed, and tumor thrombi were removed via venotomy in both dogs. Histologic evaluation indicated the masses were pancreatic islet cell tumors with tumor thrombi. Clinical signs resolved following surgical resection of tumors and tumor thrombi, and the dogs were euglycemic during the follow-up period (17 and 45 months after surgery). CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although gross tumor thrombus formation has been identified in humans with insulinomas, tumor thrombi have not been previously reported for dogs with insulinomas. Surgical removal of tumor thrombi via venotomy seemed to be well tolerated by the dogs. Tumor thrombus formation did not seem to adversely affect prognosis for the 2 dogs of this report.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23039982/