Retrospective evaluation of the etiology and clinical characteristics of peripheral edema in dogs.

Background: The prevalence and clinical characteristics of different etiologies of peripheral edema in dogs are unknown.
Hypothesis/objectives: To determine the prevalence of different etiologies of peripheral edema, describe clinical characteristics that vary among etiologies, and report survival times.
Animals: Five hundred twenty-seven dogs with peripheral edema.
Methods: Retrospective medical record review. Differences in clinical variables among etiology groups were assessed by Kruskal-Wallis testing with post hoc pairwise Dunn's testing and Chi-square testing with Monte Carlo simulation.
Results: The most common etiologies of peripheral edema in dogs were vasculitis (n = 193, 37%), lymphatic/venous obstruction (LVO; 114, 22%), and hypoalbuminemia (94, 18%). Right-sided congestive heart failure (R-CHF) was uncommon (25, 5%). Edema was localized in 377 (72%) dogs and generalized in 142 (27%) dogs, and hypoalbuminemia was more likely to cause generalized edema compared to LVO or vasculitis (P < .0001). Concurrent abdominal effusion (155, 29%) was more common than pleural (77, 15%) or pericardial (12, 2%) effusion. Abdominal and pleural effusion occurred more commonly in dogs with hypoalbuminemia or R-CHF compared to LVO or vasculitis (P < .0001).
Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Distribution of edema, concurrent cavitary effusions, and clinicopathological data can help predict the underlying etiology of peripheral edema in dogs.
(© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)