Wischnewsky-like spots in fatal cases of canine hypothermia.

Two dogs with a history of being found dead within environments exposed to extremely cold weather were examined postmortem. In both cases, brown to red to black, round to irregularly shaped foci ranging from 0.5-15 mm in diameter were identified within the mucosa of the stomach. These foci are grossly and microscopically consistent with Wischnewsky spots that are reported in humans. These spots in the mucosa of the stomach are considered important findings in cases of hypothermia-related deaths in humans and are for the first time reported in the dog.