Canine sterile nodular panniculitis: a retrospective study of 39 dogs

Canine sterile nodular panniculitis (SNP) is an inflammatory disease of the panniculus that is typically managed with immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive treatments. It has been reported to be a cutaneous marker of an underlying systemic disease.

To assess the presence or absence of concurrent systemic diseases associated with canine SNP and to document breed predispositions.

Thirty nine dogs presented to a veterinary teaching hospital from 1990 to 2012 which met inclusion criteria.

Inclusion in this retrospective study required a diagnosis of SNP via histopathological analysis and negative special stains for infectious organisms. Breed distributions of affected dogs were compared to all other dogs examined at this hospital during the study period. Correlations between the histological pattern of panniculitis and the histological presence of dermatitis, clinical presentation of lesions, dog breed and therapeutic outcomes were assessed.

Australian shepherd dogs, Brittany spaniels, Dalmatians, Pomeranians and Chihuahuas were significantly over-represented, but correlations between inflammatory patterns of panniculitis and other histological and clinical factors were not identified. Based on the information available in medical records, 32 dogs (82.1%) had no concurrent systemic diseases identified. Four dogs had concurrent polyarthritis, which may be related to SNP through unknown mechanisms.

This study identified several novel breed predilections for SNP; it failed to find any clear correlations with associated systemic diseases other than polyarthritis. The histological inflammatory pattern of SNP does not predict therapeutic outcome.