Chronic pulmonary disease in West Highland white terriers

Abstract

This paper describes the clinical features, and diagnostic findings of a chronic respiratory condition in 29 West Highland white terriers. Typically, the dogs were coughing chronically, had dyspnoea and tachypnoea of varying severity, and had deteriorated progressively over months to years. The mean (sem) survival time in months from the clinical signs being first noted by the owners was 17.9 (2.3). Most cases had a combination of respiratory signs, but coughing was the predominant sign in 18 cases. Inspiratory crackles were audible on chest auscultation in 28 cases, 10 of which were also wheezing. Rhonchi were the predominant sound in the remaining case. The main radiographic changes were mild to severe increased Interstitial markings in all cases, with additional bronchial markings in 14 of the dogs. Right-sided cardiomegaly (cor pulmonale) was recorded in 15. Bronchoscopic findings in 17 of the dogs were either normal or involved a mild airway mucoid reaction in eight. Chronic mucosal changes were observed in eight, but in two this finding was equivocal. Dynamic changes to the lumen of the airway were present in seven cases. No significant haematological or biochemical changes could be detected in 20 cases, but four cases were hypercholestrolaemic. A histopathological assessment of four cases revealed alveolar septal fibrosis to be the predominant change. Prednisolone, with or without bronchodilators, was the most commonly used therapy, and the response was variable. The condition appears to be associated with significant pulmonary interstitial fibrosis of unknown aetiology and has clinical similarities to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis) in human beings.

Long‐Term Outcome and Use of 6‐Minute Walk Test in West Highland White Terriers with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

“…As IPF is a disease occurring in older WHWTs, and the magnitude of its effect on lifespan has been unclear, as no prospective studies with controls have been published previously 2. In this study, we have shown that IPF has significant negative impact on life expectancy in WHWTs.…”

“…Exercise intolerance is a common clinical sign in WHWTs with IPF,1, 2 but is difficult to evaluate reliably in older nonathletic pet dogs. Therefore, a noninvasive 6MWT was applied in the study.…”

“…Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a disease of unknown etiology that occurs particularly in West Highland White Terriers (WHWTs) 1, 2. The disease causes collagenous thickening of the pulmonary interstitium3, 4 and impairs gas exchange 1.…”

“…Histologically, IPF in WHWTs shares features of the 2 most common subtypes of human idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP), the pathologic counterpart of IPF, and nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) 4. The median survival of WHWTs with IPF has been reported in a retrospective study to be 16 months from onset of clinical signs and 7 months from diagnosis, but speculated not to shorten life expectancy as the disease affects middle‐aged to older WHWTs 2. In humans, median survival of IPF patients from diagnosis is only 2–3 years,5 whereas fibrotic NSIP has a better prognosis of 6–13.5 years 6, 7…”

Evaluation of chemokines CXCL8 and CCL2, serotonin, and vascular endothelial growth factor serum concentrations in healthy dogs from seven breeds with variable predisposition for canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

“…Pathogenesis of CIPF is currently unknown, although a genetic basis is strongly suspected due to the breed predisposition (Heikkilä-Laurila and Rajamäki, 2014). CIPF shares several clinical features with human IPF (Corcoran et al, 1999;Lobetti et al, 2001;Heikkilä et al, 2011); however, there are minor histopathological differences between these entities (Syrjä et al, 2013). In human IPF, chronic alveolar epithelial cell injuries and subsequent dysregulated tissue repair are considered to be the main pathological processes involved in the pathogenesis of this fibroproliferative disease (Coward et al, 2010;Raghu et al, 2011).…”