Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with visceral leishmaniasis causing heart inflammation
By Goicoa Ana et al.·Published in Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica·2009·View original on DOAJ →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Visceral leishmaniasis with cardiac involvement in a dog: a case report
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A dog presented with skin lumps, swollen lymph nodes, and swelling in the limbs, face, and abdomen. After testing, the dog was diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis, a disease caused by a parasite. During a necropsy, the vet found severe inflammation in the heart, which was unusual for this condition, leading to damage in the heart muscle. Unfortunately, the dog had significant organ damage, and the outcome was not favorable.
People also search for: dog skin lumps · swollen lymph nodes in dogs · visceral leishmaniasis treatment in dogs · dog heart problems symptoms · leishmaniasis in dogs
Abstract
<p>Abstract</p> <p>A dog presented with cutaneous nodules, enlarged lymph nodes and oedema in limbs, face and abdomen. The diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis was established by identification of <it>Leishmania </it>amastigotes within macrophages from skin and popliteal lymph node biopsies. At necropsy, lesions were found in different organs, but it was particularly striking to observe large areas of pallor in the myocardium. Histological examination revealed an intense chronic inflammatory reaction in many organs, and numerous macrophages were found to contain amastigote forms of <it>Leishmania</it>. The inflammatory reaction was especially severe in the heart, where large areas of the myocardium appeared infiltrated with huge numbers of mononuclear immune cells, causing cardiac muscle atrophy and degeneration. Despite the severe inflammation, the number of parasitized macrophages was low in the myocardium, as revealed by immunohistochemical staining of <it>Leishmania </it>amastigotes. Because cardiac involvement is not usually described in this condition, this dog represents a very rare case of canine visceral leishmaniasis with affection of the myocardium.</p>
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on DOAJ: https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-51-20