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In a 9-years-old Labrador retriever, signs of severe weakness and a dark brown colour of urine were observed. During clinical examination, pain of the abdominal cavity and muscles was noted. Abdominal x-ray and ultrasound examination revealed signs of intestinal obstruction. The activity of creatine kinase was 187380 U/l. The diagnosis of acute muscle damage was made. Treatment included antibiotic and analgesic therapy, as well as aggressive fluid infusion. No additional treatments were required, and the dog made a speedy recovery. The rapid and intensive treatment prevented acute renal failure, which is a life-threatening complication of acute rhabdomyolisis. This is the first case of acute idiopathic rhabdomyolysis in a dog in Poland. An early intensive fluid therapy and a critical interpretation of radiological signs of intestinal obstruction are crucial for successful therapy.

Hepatic stellate cells play a crucial role in the development of liver fibrosis. In a damaged liver, stellate cells undergo activation, which is manifested as a change of their phenotype: differentiation of stellate cells to myofibroblast-type cells, expression of alpha-Smooth Muscle Actin, their proliferation and a reduction in the size of cytoplasmic lipid droplets. The aim of this study was to determine the number and morphology of stellate cells in the canine liver affected by congenital portosystemic shunt (PSS) and portal vein hypoplasia – hepatic microvascular dysplasia (PVH-HMD). The material for investigation were archived paraffin blocks with liver samples collected supravitally from six dogs with PSS, six dogs with PVH-HMD and six healthy dogs. On the HE-stained sections, the number of stellate cells per 100 hepatocytes was counted (Sztark method) and the diameter of veins in the hepatic triads was measured (light microscope Olympus BX 43, SC30 camera, CellSens Entry 2011 Olympus). In addition, the diameter of lipid droplets in stellate cells was measured (computed image analysis system LUCIA 4.21). The results were analysed statistically (the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s post-hoc procedure; significance level (α) at 0.05; Statistica 12 StatSoft Inc.). The degree of liver fibrosis was determined (Masson’s method of slide stain; Scheuer scale). The liver samples from the dogs with PSS and PVH-HMD were stained immunohistochemically with Monoclonal Mouse Anti-Human Smooth Muscle Actin (α-SMA), clone 1A4, antibodies (DAKO). Portosystemic shunt and primary portal vein hypoplasia in the dog results in a reduction in the diameter of portal vein branches and in insufficient portal blood flow through the liver. In the material investigated, this was particularly evident in the animals affected by PSS: such dogs had a significantly smaller diameter of the veins than did the healthy dogs (p