Traumatic Endocardial Rupture Causing Bilateral Forelimb Arterial Thromboembolism in a Dog

To describe a case of traumatic endocardial rupture, without obvious clinical signs of cardiac injury, resulting in acute thrombosis of the forelimbs in a dog.

A young adult male German Shepherd Dog presented with vehicular polytrauma. The dog was diagnosed with hypovolemic shock and traumatic pneumothorax and was stabilized, having displayed no clinical indicators of cardiac dysfunction. For 10 days, the dog was treated with no complications in the hospital for wounds but presented again shortly after discharge with bilateral forelimb paraparesis determined likely to be due to thrombosis. The dog was euthanized, and the body was submitted for necropsy. A diagnosis was made of left atrial endocardial rupture with thrombosis, multifocal pulmonary bullae and contusions, and cutaneous abrasions, all secondary to trauma. Based on the dog's physical examination on secondary presentation and the necropsy findings of a thrombus adherent to a left atrial tear, it was suspected that one or more thrombus fragments dislodged and occluded the major supplying vessels of the forelimbs.

Blunt cardiac injury may occur without overt clinical manifestations of dysfunction and may lead to thrombosis and associated complications.