Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pancreatitis, panniculitis, and polyarthritis syndrome in a dog with hyalinizing pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc
- Year:
- 2024
- Authors:
- Hagelskamp, Abby et al.
- Affiliation:
- College of Veterinary Medicine · United States
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 10-year-old spayed female Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was taken to the veterinary hospital because she had repeated abscesses on her back legs, a fever, was very tired, and had lameness that the vets couldn't explain. After thorough testing, she was diagnosed with a condition called sterile nodular panniculitis, which is related to inflammation of the fat under the skin. She initially improved with treatment that suppresses the immune system, but after about 11 months, her skin lesions returned, and her lameness worsened, leading to the difficult decision to euthanize her. A postmortem examination revealed she had a type of pancreatic cancer along with the other conditions. This case is notable because it describes a rare and serious syndrome linked to pancreatic disease in dogs, which hadn't been documented before.
Abstract
A 10-y-old spayed female Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dog was presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital because of recurrent chronic abscesses on the distal pelvic limbs, fever, lethargy, lameness of unknown etiology, and chronic pancreatitis. Sterile nodular panniculitis was diagnosed after an extensive workup, and the dog initially responded to immunosuppressive therapy, but relapse and spread of cutaneous lesions and acute lameness occurred after 11 mo, and euthanasia was elected. Postmortem examination confirmed hyalinizing pancreatic adenocarcinoma with pancreatitis, panniculitis, polyarthritis (PPP), and osteomyelitis. Histopathology and bacterial and fungal cultures were supportive of a sterile process, specifically the PPP syndrome, which is a rare, potentially life-threatening, systemic manifestation of pancreatic disease in both people and animals. To our knowledge, a clinicopathologic description of a hyalinizing pancreatic adenocarcinoma associated with this rare syndrome has not been reported previously in a dog.
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: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39233384/