Endocrinology: Chronic hepatitis in the dog ‐ a review

Summary

Chronic hepatitis is a heterogeneous group of inflammatory‐ necrotizing diseases of the liver. There is controversy in both human and veterinary medicine about the classification of chronic hepatitis and this is likely to remain until a classification based on aetiology rather than on morphology is introduced. Controversy exists as to whether chronic hepatitis in dogs is comparable to the human disorder. The aetiology of chronic hepatitis in dogs is poorly understood, whereas in humans an increasing number of viral causes have been found. Liver biopsy is essential for the diagnosis of chronic hepatitis both in dogs and in humans. Histopathological evaluation of the liver is required to make the diagnosis, which is based on the presence of liver cell necrosis and inflammatory reaction. The proposed criteria for the classification of hepatitis in dogs are then as follows: aetiology is the primary denominator (infectious, drug induced, autoimmune, or, if unknown, idiopathic). The other criteria are histopathological, with severity reflecting the severity of the necro‐inflammatory activity (minimal, mild, moderate or severe) and chronicity reflecting the extent of fibrosis (none, mild, moderate, severe or cirrhosis).

Keywords:

• hepatitis
• chronic
• dog

Notes

Department of Internal Medicine.

Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Szent Istvan University, H‐1078 Budapest, Istvan u. 2, Hungary,

Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht.

Corresponding author: Ágnes Sterczer, DVM, PhD. Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Szent Istvan University, BUDAPEST, Istvan u. 2. 1078 HUNGARY. Email: [email protected], Phone: (workplace): 36–1–478–4132, (mobil): 36–309629–178, Fax: [phone].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Á. Sterczer

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