Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy coincided with the cardiac fibrosis in the inner muscle layer of the left ventricular wall in a boxer dog

Abstract

A 7-year-old female boxer dog died suddenly without any clinical signs. It was suspected that the dog had arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) due to ventricular premature complexes and ventricular tachycardia at 3 years of age. The final diagnosis of ARVC was confirmed by histological characteristics, such as loss of cardiocytes and fibrofatty replacement, occurring in the right and left ventricular walls. In the cardiocytes, non-lipid vacuoles were observed. Cardiac fibrosis and intimal thickening of the small arteries occurred without fatty replacement in the inner muscle layer including the papillary muscles of the left ventricular wall. This paper describes the pathomorphological details of an ARVC case with coincidental cardiac fibrosis in the inner muscle layer of the left ventricular wall.