Internal Medicine Staff Veterinarian University of California, Davis Davis, CA, United States
Abstract:
Background: Coagulation derangements have been previously reported in dogs with chronic hepatitis.
Objectives: Determine frequency of coagulation abnormalities in a cohort of immune-mediated chronic hepatitis (ICH) and copper-associated chronic hepatitis (CAH) dogs undergoing pre and post-treatment liver biopsies.Animals: Client-owned dogs diagnosed with ICH (18) or CAH (14).
Methods: Dogs were diagnosed with ICH or CAH following a liver biopsy and treated for 6 months. Clotting times (PT and PTT) and fibrinogen were measured at 1, 3, and 6 months. A liver biopsy was repeated at 6 months. Prolonged PT or PTT was defined as > 1.25 times upper limit of normal. Descriptive statistics were performed.
Results: At baseline, all dogs had normal clotting times except for 1 CAH dog that had prolonged clotting times and hypofibrinogenemia. Hypofibrinogenemia and hyperfibrinogenemia was observed in 6/32 and 2/32 dogs, respectively. At 6 months, all dogs had normal PT/PTT and 15/32 (47%) had hyperfibrinogenemia (12 ICH and 3 CAH). At the baseline biopsy, Gelfoam® was used for hemostasis in 7/32 (22%) dogs of which 1/7 had a coagulation derangement (fibrinogen < 60mg/dL). At the 6 month biopsy, Gelfoam® was used for hemostasis in 3/32 (9%) of which all 3 dogs had normal PT/PTT and hyperfibrinogenemia. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Prolonged clotting times, hypofibrinogenemia, and bleeding complications requiring Gelfoam® were uncommon in this cohort of ICH and CAH dogs. Hyperfibrinogenemia was found in > 50% of dogs post-treatment and was more common in ICH than CAH.
