title: Clinical considerations on canine visceral leishmaniasis in Greece: a retrospective study of 158 cases (1989-1996).
abstract: The medical records of 158 dogs with visceral leishmaniasis confirmed cytologically and/or serologically were reviewed. Ages of affected dogs varied from nine months to 15 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3. The most common clinical manifestations of the disease were variable cutaneous lesions such as exfoliative dermatitis and skin ulcerations, chronic renal failure, peripheral lymphadenopathy or lymph node hypoplasia, masticatory muscle atrophy (i.e., chronic myositis), ocular lesions (i.e., conjunctivitis, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, blepharitis, and uveitis), and poor body condition. Ascites, nephrotic syndrome, epistaxis, polyarthritis, and ulcerative stomatitis were seen only in a small number of cases. Clinical splenomegaly was not a common finding. The clinicopathological abnormalities were nonregenerative anemia, hyperproteinemia, glomerular proteinuria, and symptomatic or asymptomatic azotemia. In this study, an indirect immunofluorescence assay's diagnostic sensitivity was found to be higher than that of lymph node aspiration cytology.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Companion Animal Medicine, Department of Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotles University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Koutinas
authors.forename: Z S
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Polizopoulou
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Saridomichelakis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Argyriadis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fytianou
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Plevraki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D012189:Retrospective Studies