A retrospective study of canine senile plaques and cerebral amyloid angiopathy

Epidemiologic and morphologic features of canine senile plaques (SPs) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) were examined in 69 necropsied dogs. Dogs having only SPs (diffuse plaques) frequently suffered from malignant neoplasms, and their mean age was significantly lower than that of dogs with CAA only. Morphologically, diffuse plaques showed wide distribution compared with amyloid plaques or CAA and were predominantly concentrated in the frontal cortex. We were unable to find any significant relationship between the severity of the SPs and individual age. These findings may indicate that the occurrence of canine SPs is not strictly associated with aging only and that additional factors are related to the occurrence of SPs, especially diffuse plaques.