Retrospective study of hematological changes in dogs with blood diseases of parasitic origin: 18 cases: Estudo retrospectivo das alterações hematológicas em cães com doenças sanguíneas de origem parasitária: 18 casos

Abstract

In the clinical routine, blood tests are of paramount importance for the assessment of the health of animals, as they allow the quantification of red and white blood cells, and thus enable the detection and monitoring of hematological changes caused by diseases of parasitic origin. Because of the above, the objective of this work is to describe the main hematological alterations in canines with blood diseases of parasitic origin. A retrospective study was carried out of the medical records of dogs referred and treated by the outpatient team of the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases of Animals of the Veterinary Clinic School of the Federal University of Sergipe, Campus do Sertão, from March 2022 to December 2022, all statistical data were analyzed using the InStat GraphPad software, with a significance level of p<0.05. As a result, it was observed that 30% (18/60; p<0.0001) of the dogs had blood diseases of parasitic origin. 5,55% (1/18; p<0.0001) of patients were diagnosed with anaplasmosis, 5,55% (1/18; p<0.0001) with ehrlichiosis, 11,11% (2/18; p<0.0010) with babesiosis, 5,55% (1/18; p<0.0001) with hepatozoonosis and 77,77% (14/18; p<0.0003) with leishmaniasis. Monoparasitism and co-infection were observed in 94.44% and 5.56% of the animals, respectively (p<0.0001). Anemia, anisocytosis, leukocytosis, lymphocytosis and, thrombocytopenia were the main hematological changes observed in parasitized dogs