Histopathologic features of canine uremic gastropathy: a retrospective study

Uremic gastritis is a term commonly used to describe the gastrointestinal signs and histopathologic changes associated with renal failure in the dog. This retrospective study reviews the clinical, serum biochemical, and postmortem histopathologic data from 28 dogs with renal failure to determine the prevalence of gastric histopathology, characterize the gastric histopathology, and identify associations between gastric histopathology and serum concentrations of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), calcium-phosphorus product (Ca x Phos), and hematocrit. Affected and control dogs with available renal and gastric tissue, serum biochemistry data, and urinalysis data were identified over a 10-year period (1992-2002) in the pathology department postmortem examination database at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. The serum biochemistry data and histopathologic findings were scored as normal, mild, moderate, and severe. All affected dogs had derangements of BUN, Cr, or Ca x Phos with gastric histopathology in 22 of 28 dogs (79%). Dogs with renal failure had a higher prevalence of gastric histopathologic changes compared with the control group. Associated histopathologic changes in the stomach were edema (P = .008), mineralization (P = .03), and vasculopathy (P = .03). Only 1 dog had evidence of gastric ulceration. Gastric necrosis was an uncommon finding (4/28, 14%). Gastric histopathology appears to be common in dogs with renal failure and is associated with increasing severity in the serum biochemistry data. Unlike humans with renal failure, in whom gastric ulceration predominates, gastric necrosis and ulceration appear to be uncommon in dogs with renal failure.