Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, interstitial lung disease primarily affecting West Highland White Terriers (WHWTs).Objective: To describe the clinicopathological and diagnostic imaging features in WHWTs with IPF. Animals: Twelve WHWTs with IPF and 14 healthy control WHWTs. Method: Prospective study. Clinical signs and findings of physical examination, blood and arterial blood gas analyses, radiography, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of IPF dogs were obtained and compared with controls. Histopathologic changes in IPF dogs were evaluated.Results: Mean partial pressure of oxygen was significantly lower in IPF (mean AE SD, 65.5 AE 15.4 mmHg) than in controls (99.1 AE 7.8 mmHg, Po.001). The alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient was significantly higher in IPF (50.1 AE 17.3 mmHg) than in controls (17.5 AE 4.9 mmHg, Po.001). In HRCT, ground glass opacity (GGO) was detected in all IPF dogs, traction bronchiectasis in 4, and honeycombing in 1. Bronchoscopic airway changes were noted in all IPF dogs. On BAL fluid (BALF) cytology, the total cell count (TCC) was higher in IPF dogs, and the numbers but not the percentages of macrophages, neutrophils, and mast cells were increased. On histopathology, multifocal or diffuse interstitial fibrosis, type II pneumocyte hyperplasia, prominent intraalveolar macrophages, distortion of alveolar architecture, and emphysematous change were detected.Conclusion and Clinical Importance: IPF causes substantial hypoxemia. In HRCT, GGO is a consistent finding. IPF dogs have concurrent airway changes and an increase in BALF TCC.

BackgroundAcute‐phase proteins (APPs) are sensitive markers of inflammation, and serum C‐reactive protein (CRP) recently has been shown to be a useful diagnostic marker in dogs with bacterial pneumonia (BP). In humans with community‐acquired pneumonia, APPs also have great utility as follow‐up markers aiding in the assessment of treatment response.ObjectivesThe aim of our study was to investigate the applicability of APPs as markers of treatment response in dogs with BP.AnimalsNineteen dogs diagnosed with BP and 64 healthy dogs.MethodsThe study was conducted as a prospective longitudinal observational study. Serum CRP, serum amyloid A (SAA), and haptoglobin concentrations were followed during a natural course of BP. Normalization of serum CRP was used to guide the duration of antibiotic treatment (treatment was stopped 5–7 days after CRP normalized) in 8 of 17 dogs surviving to discharge; 9 of 17 dogs were treated according to conventional recommendations.ResultsAll measured APPs initially were significantly increased, but the magnitude of increase was not correlated to disease severity. C‐reactive protein and SAA concentrations decreased rapidly after initiation of antimicrobial treatment. When normalization of serum CRP was used to guide the duration of antibiotic treatment, treatment duration was significantly (P = .015) decreased without increasing the number of relapses.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceSerum CRP and SAA reflected the recovery process well and therefore may be used as markers of treatment response. According to the results, the normalization of serum CRP may be used to guide the duration of antibiotic treatment in dogs with BP.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a major acute-phase protein in dogs. Serum concentrations are low in healthy animals, but increase rapidly after inflammatory stimuli.Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate CRP concentrations in various respiratory diseases of dogs and to determine if CRP can be used as a biomarker in the diagnosis of bacterial respiratory diseases.Animals: A total of 106 privately owned dogs with respiratory diseases ( Methods: The study was conducted as a prospective cross-sectional observational study. CRP was measured in serum samples. Diagnosis was confirmed by clinical and laboratory findings, diagnostic imaging, and selected diagnostic methods such as cytological and microbiological analysis of respiratory samples, echocardiography, and histopathology.Results: Dogs with BP had significantly higher CRP concentrations (median, 121 mg/L; interquartile range, 68-178 mg/L) than dogs with BTB (23, 15-38, P = .0003), CB (13, 8-14, P < .0001), EBP (5, 5-15, P < .0001), CIPF (17, 10-20, P < .0001), or CPE (19, 13-32, P < .0001) and healthy controls (14,(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), P < .0001). Dogs with BTB had significantly higher CRP concentrations than dogs with CB (P = .001) or EBP (P < .0001) and healthy controls (P = .029).Conclusion and Clinical Importance: These results indicate that CRP has potential for use as an additional biomarker, especially in the diagnostics of BP.

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