Canine hypoadrenocorticism: Insights into the Addisonian crisis.

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Medicine
• Internal Medicine
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Spontaneous hypoadrenocorticism, or Addison's disease, is a potentially life-threatening endocrine disorder in dogs.
• Dogs with critical hypoadrenocorticism present with unique clinical and clinicopathologic findings compared to those with a more stable presentation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the clinical presentation, physical examination findings, clinicopathologic data, and hospitalization duration in critically ill dogs with spontaneous hypoadrenocorticism.
• To compare these parameters between critically ill and stable dogs with hypoadrenocorticism.
• To evaluate the utility of the shock index and identify common stressors precipitating critical illness.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective study was conducted using medical records of 84 dogs diagnosed with spontaneous hypoadrenocorticism between 1998 and 2018.
• Data collected included presenting complaints, physical examination findings, clinicopathologic variables, and hospitalization time.
• Statistical analysis was performed to compare findings between critically ill and stable patient groups.

Main Results:

• Critically ill dogs were more likely to exhibit collapse and depression.
• Hyperlactatemia was infrequent in hypovolemic shock, and the shock index was not a reliable indicator in this subset.
• Isosthenuria, total hypocalcemia, and severe acidosis were significantly more common in critically ill dogs (P < 0.05).
• Owner separation was identified as the most frequent precipitating stressor.

Conclusions:

• Critically ill dogs with hypoadrenocorticism possess distinct clinical and clinicopathologic characteristics.
• These unique features may assist veterinarians in the early identification and management of critical Addison's disease in dogs.