Epidemiologic survey of thrombocytopenia in dogs: a report on 987 cases

Thrombocytopenia was documented in 987 of 18,910 (5.2%) dogs admitted to North Carolina State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, between 1983 and 1989. Classifying thrombocytopenic dogs by etiologic groups revealed the following proportionate ratios: 5% (48/987) immune-mediated thrombocytopenia; 13% (130/987) neoplasia-associated thrombocytopenia; 23% (224/987) inflammatory/infectious thrombocytopenia; and 59% (585/987) miscellaneous thrombocytopenia. Dogs with immune-mediated thrombocytopenia had significantly (P < 0.05) lower platelet counts (mean 36,760 +/- 50,288 microliter) than dogs in the other three groups, and Doberman Pinschers were overrepresented in all groups except the immune-mediated thrombocytopenic group. We conclude that thrombocytopenia is a prevalent and potentially important diagnostic finding in a variety of disease states.