title: Bacterial Cholangitis, Cholecystitis, or both in Dogs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bacterial cholangitis and cholecystitis are rarely reported, poorly characterized diseases in the dog.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To characterize the clinical features of these conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-seven client-owned dogs with bacterial cholangitis, cholecystitis, or both.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multicenter, retrospective cases series of dogs with bacterial cholangitis, cholecystitis, or both, presenting January 2000 to June 2011 to 4 Veterinary Schools in Ireland/United Kingdom. Interrogation of hospital databases identified all cases with the inclusion criteria; histopathologically confirmed cholangitis or cholecystitis and bile culture/cytology results supporting a bacterial etiology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-seven dogs met the inclusion criteria with approximately 460 hepatitis cases documented over the same study period. Typical clinical pathology findings were increases in liver enzyme activities (25/26), hyperbilirubinemia (20/26), and an inflammatory leukogram (21/24). Ultrasound findings, although nonspecific, aided decision-making in 25/26 cases. The most frequent hepatobiliary bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli (n = 17; 16 cases), Enterococcus spp. (n = 8; 6 cases), and Clostridium spp. (n = 5; 5 cases). Antimicrobial resistance was an important feature of aerobic isolates; 10/16 E. coli isolates resistant to 3 or more antimicrobial classes. Biliary tract rupture complicated nearly one third of cases, associated with significant mortality (4/8). Discharged dogs had a guarded to fair prognosis; 17/18 alive at 2 months, although 5/10 re-evaluated had persistent liver enzyme elevation 2-12 months later.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bacterial cholangitis and cholecystitis occur more frequently than suggested by current literature and should be considered in dogs presenting with jaundice and fever, abdominal pain, or an inflammatory leukogram or with ultrasonographic evidence of gallbladder abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamborini
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jahns
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: McAllister
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Procoli
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Allenspach
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Day
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: O'Neill
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary; D002761:Cholangitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002764:Cholecystitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Canine; Cholangiohepatitis; Hepatitis; Liver disease