title: Clinical Features and Outcome of Dogs with Epiglottic Retroversion With or Without Surgical Treatment: 24 Cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Published information describing the clinical features and outcome for dogs with epiglottic retroversion (ER) is limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe clinical features, comorbidities, outcome of surgical versus medical treatment and long-term follow-up for dogs with ER. We hypothesized that dogs with ER would have upper airway comorbidities and that surgical management (epiglottopexy or subtotal epiglottectomy) would improve long-term outcome compared to medical management alone.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four client-owned dogs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review of medical records to identify dogs with ER that underwent surgical or medical management of ER.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dogs with ER commonly were middle-aged to older, small breed, spayed females with body condition score (BCS) ≥6/9. Stridor and dyspnea were the most common presenting signs. Concurrent or historical upper airway disorders were documented in 79.1% of cases. At last evaluation, 52.6% of dogs that underwent surgical management, and 60% of dogs that received medical management alone, had decreased severity of presenting clinical signs. In dogs that underwent surgical management for ER, the incidence of respiratory crisis decreased from 62.5% before surgery to 25% after surgical treatment. The overall calculated Kaplan-Meier median survival time was 875 days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study indicated that a long-term survival of at least 2 years can be expected in dogs diagnosed with epiglottic retroversion. The necessity of surgical management cannot be determined based on this data, but dogs with no concurrent upper airway disorders may benefit from a permanent epiglottopexy to alleviate negative inspiratory pressures.
authors.affiliation: Surgery Department, Animal Medical Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Skerrett
authors.affiliation: Surgery Department, Animal Medical Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: McClaran
authors.affiliation: Caspary Research Institute and Education Outreach Director, Animal Medical Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Animal Medical Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Palma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D004825:Epiglottis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Canine; Epiglottopexy; Subtotal epiglottectomy; Upper airway obstruction