title: Establishment of diagnostic criteria for feline nonflea-induced hypersensitivity dermatitis.
abstract: Hypersensitivity dermatitides (HD) are commonly seen in cats, and they are usually caused by environmental, food and/or flea allergens. Affected cats normally present with one of the following clinical reaction patterns: head and neck excoriations, usually symmetrical self-induced alopecia, eosinophilic skin lesions or miliary dermatitis. Importantly, none of these clinical presentations is considered to be pathognomonic for HD skin diseases, and the diagnosis of HD is usually based on the exclusion of other pruritic diseases and on a positive response to therapy. The objectives of this study were to propose sets of criteria for the diagnosis of nonflea-induced HD (NFHD). We recruited 501 cats with pruritus and skin lesions and compared clinical parameters between cats with NFHD (encompassing those with nonflea, nonfood HD and those with food HD), flea HD and other pruritic conditions. Using simulated annealing techniques, we established two sets of proposed criteria for the following two different clinical situations: (i) the diagnosis of NFHD in a population of pruritic cats; and (ii) the diagnosis of NFHD after exclusion of cats with flea HD. These criteria sets were associated with good sensitivity and specificity and may be useful for homogeneity of enrolment in clinical trials and to evaluate the probability of diagnosis of NFHD in clinical practice. Finally, these criteria were not useful to differentiate cats with NFHD from those with food HD.
authors: Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. cfavrot@vetclinics.uzh.ch
authors: Claude
authors: C
authors: Favrot
authors: Jean
authors: J
authors: Steffan
authors: Wolfgang
authors: W
authors: Seewald
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Hobi
authors: Monika
authors: M
authors: Linek
authors: Geneviève
authors: G
authors: Marignac
authors: Thierry
authors: T
authors: Olivry
authors: Luc
authors: L
authors: Beco
authors: Claudia
authors: C
authors: Nett
authors: Jacques
authors: J
authors: Fontaine
authors: Petra
authors: P
authors: Roosje
authors: Kerstin
authors: K
authors: Bergvall
authors: Svetlana
authors: S
authors: Belova
authors: Stefanie
authors: S
authors: Koebrich
authors: Didier
authors: D
authors: Pin
authors: Marcel
authors: M
authors: Kovalik
authors: Sabrina
authors: S
authors: Meury
authors: Sylvia
authors: S
authors: Wilhelm
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D002415:Cats; D017449:Dermatitis, Allergic Contact / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011537:Pruritus / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D005423:Siphonaptera