A retrospective study of chronic nasal disease in 75 dogs

Abstract

Chronic nasal disease is a common problem in dogs. To determine the aetiology, a retrospective study in 75 dogs with persistent and chronic nasal disease was done. All dogs were evaluated by means of survey nasal radiographs, antegrade and retrograde rhinoscopy, bacterial and fungal cultures, and histopathology. A definitive diagnosis was made in 74/75 cases (98.6 %). Nasal neoplasia was the most common diagnosis (46.7 %), median age 108 months, followed by lympho-plasmacytic rhinitis (20 %), median age 112 months, and fungal rhinitis (10.7 %), median age 53.5 months. Other diagnoses included nasal foreign body (5.3 %), median age 51 months, and primary bacterial rhinitis (6.7 %), median age 116.5 months. Rare aetiologies identified were nasal polyps, granulomatous rhinitis, oro-nasal fistula and naso-pharyngeal stenosis. This study showed that by using a structured combination of survey radiography, rhinoscopy, cultures and histopathology, a diagnosis could be made in dogs with chronic nasal disease.

Neoplastic lesions in the nasal cavities of dogs

“…Such a finding has also been confirmed by Lobetti (2009) and Sapierzyński and Żmudzka (2009), who observed proliferative nasal cavity lesions in these breeds in 62.9% and 57.1% respectively. On the other hand, Pietra et al (2010) found a lower percentage of lesions in meso-and dolichocephalic breeds (27.8%).…”

“…Pietra et al (2010) observed neoplastic lesions in dogs of a similar age, where the lesions occurred with the same frequency in male as well as female dogs. The average age of dogs with neoplastic lesions of nasal cavities was comparable in the studies of Lobetti (2009) and Meler et al (2008) and amounted to 9 years and 9.5 years, respectively.…”

“…In turn, Pietra et al (2010) observed proliferative lesions during an endoscopic examination in 46.3% of dogs, Lobetti (2009) found these lesions to occur in 46.7% of dogs, Meler et al (2008) in 11.25%, Knotek et al (2000) in 23.1%, and Willard and Radlinski (1999) in 33% of the dogs studied.…”

“…They reported that fibrosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, osteosarcoma, neuroblastoma, neuroendocrine tumors, melanoma, fibroma, and chondroma occurred less frequently. The most commonly recognized neoplasms in the histopathological examination by Lobetti (2009) included the undifferentiated carcinoma and adenocarcinoma and, less frequently, transitional cell carcinoma, chondrosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, neuroendocrine tumor, squamous carcinoma and adenoma.…”

Peripheral nerve sheath tumor invading the nasal cavities of a 6-year-old female Pointer dog

“…Only after a deeper examination of the whole mass, focal areas of necrosis and cells bearing large atypical nuclei were detectable. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated the neoplastic cells positive for GFAP (Figure 2 Occurrence of tumors in the nasal structures (nasal planum, nasal cavities, and paranasal sinuses) is usually sporadic in animal species, although in canine breeds it is of growing importance, being a common cause of chronic nasal disease (Tasker et al 1999;Meler et al 2008;Lobetti 2009;Sapierzynski & Zmudzka 2009;Pietra et al 2010). The dolichocephalic breeds or dogs living in urban environments are predisposed to the development of nasal tumors.…”