Ectopic dioctophymosis in a dog - Clinical, diagnostic and pathological challenges of a silent disease.

A 9-month old, female, stray dog was rescued and conducted to a university veterinary hospital. Moderate anemia was observed and abdominal ultrasound revealed pancreatitis. Right kidney was not visualized due to intestinal gas. Urinalysis was normal. Castration was performed three weeks later. Before discharge, abdominal ultrasound was performed for internal sutures examination. A cyst-like structure was present in the right retroperitoneal space with what appeared to be tubular worms inside it, not observed in previous evaluation. An ectopic dioctophymosis diagnosis was made. Two female Dioctophyme renale were surgically removed from the structure. Right kidney was hyperemic but not removed. No sign of peritonitis was observed. The dog recovered well. Laboratory follow-up showed no abnormalities a year after the episode and Doppler ultrasound revealed a mild right nephropathy. This is the first canine ectopic dioctophymosis case with only an abdominal cyst-like structure containing viable nematodes, successfully treated. It represents the rarity and difficulties in diagnosing ectopic dioctophymosis even in enzootic locations, highlighting the importance of ultrasonographic screening for such silent, potentially zoonotic disease.

Escore de condição corporal como indicador do prognóstico de gatos com doença renal crônica / Body condition score as an indicator of prognosis for cats with chronic renal disease

A caquexia tem sido relacionada à maior mortalidade de pacientes com doença renal crônica, tanto em humanos, como em animais. O escore de condição corporal (ECC) pode ser utilizado em conjunto com o peso para melhor avaliação da composição corporal desses animais. O objetivo deste trabalho foi de correlacionar o escore de condição corporal com o prognóstico de felinos com doença renal crônica. Avaliaram-se 110 felinos idosos, dos quais 70 apresentavam-se hígidos (Grupo I) e 40 apresentavam doença renal crônica (Grupo II). No grupo I, apenas 5,7 por cento dos gatos apresentaram ECC abaixo do ideal e destes nenhum foi classificado como caquético. No grupo II, 70 por cento dos gatos apresentaram ECC abaixo do ideal, dos quais 32,5 por cento eram caquéticos. A taxa de mortalidade no grupo II foi significantemente maior naqueles caquéticos. O ECC abaixo do considerado ideal indica um prognóstico desfavorável nos pacientes com doença renal crônica.

Cachexia has been associated with higher mortality in patients with chronic renal disease both in human and veterinary medicine. Body condition score (BCS) can be used along with body weight for a better evaluation of a patient's body composition. The objective of this study was to associate body condition score with prognosis of cats with chronic renal disease. One hundred and ten elderly cats were evaluated; of which 70 were healthy (Group I) and 40 had been diagnosed with chronic renal disease (Group II). In Group I, only 5.7 percent of the cats presented a BCS below ideal, though none were found to be cachectic. In Group II, 70 percent of the cats presented a BCS below ideal, where 32.5 percent were cachectic. Mortality was significantly higher within the cachectic patients of Group II. BCS below ideal indicates a poor prognosis for patients with chronic renal disease.