Evaluation of primary haemostasis in canine leishmaniasis

Primary haemostasis was evaluated by measurements of bleeding time and platelet count in 26 dogs with leishmaniasis and 10 normal dogs. Bleeding time was significantly (P = 0.02) longer in the infected dogs than in the control group, and in infected dogs with creatinine concentrations > 1.5 mg/dl than in infected dogs with normal creatinine levels. There was a significant linear regression between the concentration of creatinine and bleeding time (P = 0.02) although the coefficient of determination was low (r2 = 0.194). There were no significant differences in platelet counts between the normal and diseased dogs, and there were no significant differences between male and female dogs in either group.