Background: Constrictive pericarditis (CP) secondary to coccidioidomycosis is potentially life-threatening in dogs with limited information.
Objectives: Describe clinically relevant echocardiographic features and survival in dogs with coccidioidomycosis associated CP treated with or without subtotal pericardectomy.Animals: Twenty-three client-owned dogs.
Methods: Dogs were eligible for inclusion in this retrospective study if they were diagnosed with coccidioidomycosis associated CP with or without pericardial effusion from 2020-2023. Diagnosis required echocardiographic features of CP in conjunction with ≥ 1 of positive anti-Coccidioides spp. antibody serology or identification of organisms on cytological/histopathological examination. Echocardiograms were performed by a board-certified cardiologist or a resident under supervision. Dogs were treated either with subtotal pericardectomy or medical therapy alone.
Results: All dogs had positive IgG titers (median, range; 1:16, 1:1 - 1:32) and 10 (43%) had positive IgM results. The mean pericardial thickness measured by echocardiography was 4.3 mm (SD, 2.3). Other important features of CP included the presence of septal bounce (47%, 11/23), accentuation of mitral e’ (86%, 18/21), mitral annulus reversus (28%, 5/18), and hepatic venous distension with flow reversal (70%, 16/23). Fourteen (61%) dogs were treated with medical therapy alone and the remaining 9 dogs (39%) with subtotal pericardectomy. Median follow-up time was 501.5 days (range, 23-800 days; n = 22). There was no difference in survival between dogs treated with surgery (median, range; 800 days, 126-800 days) and without (undefined, 23-738 days; P = 0.06; Log-rank test).Conclusions & Clinical Importance: Dogs with CP secondary to coccidioidomycosis can have prolonged survival times without surgery.
