Background:Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis is of great importance for evaluation of patients with central nervous system problems, because it helps to confirm or exclude many diseases when evaluated together with other relevant clinical and ancillary laboratory tests. As there are few studies in Brazil describing results of CSF analysis in dogs and cats, the objective of the present study was to evaluate results of CSF analysis in a period of ten years, grouping the changes observed, mainly total and differential cell count and total protein concentration, according to the following etiological categories of diseases: inflammatory, degenerative, traumatic, neoplastic and vascular disorders. Materials, Methods & Results:Medical records of dogs and cats with neurological diseases that had CSF collected and analyzed at a Veterinary Teaching Hospital between 2008 and 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Patient data included breed, sex, body weight, age at presentation, findings of clinical and neurological examination, results of CSF analysis, diagnostic imaging and other laboratory tests results including PCR and serologies for infectious diseases. A total of 245 CSF exams were studied (240 dogs and five cats). The established normal range for protein concentration was less than 25 mg/dL for cisternal collection and less than 45 mg/dL for lumbar puncture. Total nucleated cell count was considered normal when less than 5 cells/µL, with a predominance of mononuclear cells. Both pleocytosis and increased concentration of the protein level were classified as discrete, moderate and marked, and the pleocytosis was further classified as mononuclear, neutrophilic and mixed cell pleocytosis. The information obtained was analyzed in relation to the neurological syndromes and etiological categories of neurological diseases. The most frequent syndrome was thoracolumbar and the less frequent was cerebellar. Regarding the etiological categories, the most frequent in decreasing order were inflammatory, infectious, degenerative, neoplastic, traumatic, vascular and episodic. CSF examination was abnormal in 72% of cases. In viral infectious diseases, there was predominantly mononuclear pleocytosis with a slight increase of protein, whereas in dogs with presumptive diagnosis of meningoencephalitis of unknown origin (MUO), marked mononuclear and mixed pleocytosis predominated with moderate to marked protein increase. In degenerative diseases, however, the absence of pleocytosis or mild pleocytosis, with normal to slightly increased protein was most observed. In neoplastic diseases there was a high frequency of mild to moderate pleocytosis, with and without albuminocytological dissociation, while in spinal trauma there was mainly mononuclear pleocytosis. A slight increase in protein was observed mainly in infectious, degenerative, neoplastic and traumatic diseases, while moderate to marked increase was more observed in cases of presumptive diagnosis of MUO. Albuminocytological dissociation was observed in half of the cases of neoplas...

O lúpus eritematoso sistêmico (LES) é uma doença imunomediada crônica multissistêmica com amplo espectro de apresentações clínicas devido ao envolvimento de diversos sistemas orgânicos, de modo que o LES pode resultar em uma variedade de sinais clínicos que não são patognomônicos da afecção e vários critérios clínicos são utilizados para o diagnóstico. É uma afecção incomum em cães e há poucos estudos sobre as características clínicas e laboratoriais do LES nesta espécie no Brasil. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar as características clínicas e resultados de exames laboratoriais em cães com suspeita de LES atendidos entre 2008 e 2018 em um Hospital Veterinário Escola. O diagnóstico de LES foi realizado se houvesse positividade no teste de células LE e presença de pelo menos dois sinais maiores (lesões cutâneas, poliartrite, anemia hemolítica, glomerulonefrite, leucopenia e trombocitopenia) ou um sinal maior e dois menores (febre de origem desconhecida, alterações no sistema nervoso, ulceração oral, linfadenopatia, pericardite ou pleurite). Os dados coletados incluíram resenha e anamnese, sinais clínicos, achados de exame físico, hemograma completo, perfil de bioquímica sérica, pesquisa de doenças infecciosas e resposta ao tratamento. A maioria dos cães eram sem raça definida (SRD), de pequeno a médio porte com idade média de 4,86 anos. Fêmeas foram oito vezes mais acometidas do que machos. Os sinais clínicos mais comuns foram poliartrite, febre e lesões cutâneas. Em relação aos distúrbios hematológicos, a anemia foi a alteração mais observada, seguida da proteinúria. A terapia imunossupressora foi realizada em 16 cães, utilizando-se prednisona isolada ou em combinação com azatioprina, sendo que 15 cães melhoraram total ou parcialmente e 1 cão foi submetido à eutanásia. Embora o teste de células LE não seja considerado o exame padrão ouro para o diagnóstico atualmente, a associação desse teste com sinais laboratoriais e clínicos foi importante para o diagnóstico. O sucesso no tratamento de cães com LES depende do reconhecimento de todas as apresentações possíveis da doença e da escolha correta dos exames complementares.