Abstract
To describe the characteristics of clinical signs and clinicopathological findings in dogs with aortic thromboembolism (ATE), the medical records of four dogs diagnosed with ATE were reviewed retrospectively. The diagnosis of ATE was based on computed tomography (CT) imaging. Four dogs (13.0±1.4 years) presented with evaluation of progressive paresis. All the dogs had clinical signs of pelvic limb lameness prior to presentation. The onset of clinical signs was chronic (18.0±8.0 days) in all the dogs. Laboratory findings revealed high D-dimer concentration (four dogs), aspartate aminotransferase activity (three dogs), creatine kinase activity (three dogs), alanine aminotransferase (three dogs) and mild thrombocytopenia (three dogs). This result suggests that high D-dimer concentration is correlated with ATE in aged dogs presenting clinical signs of pelvic limb lameness with chronic onset. D-dimer combined with other clinical examinations might be useful to support the diagnosis of ATE in dogs.
