The most common canine pulmonary and pleural diseases: the analysis of clinical cases from „X“ veterinary clinic in 2014 – 2016

The research material was collected in the small animal clinic X in Vilnius and spans the period of year 2014-2016. The thesis consists of 41 pages, it includes 12 figures and 1 table. 47 bibliography sources are referenced in this thesis. The main goal of this work is to analyze the main lung and pleural diseases in dogs: their causes and predispositions, evaluate diagnostic methods and to analyze the characteristics of treatment, to evaluate the prognosis. After analyzing the data it was concluded, that the sex and the age of the dog has no significant impact on the manifestation of lung and pleural diseases. Lung neoplasia pathologies, however, were manifest only in 10+ year old dogs. It was also concluded, that pure-breed animals of those investigated had the diseases 2,4 times more often than mix-breed dogs. The main reasons for the manifestation of those diseases were infections (39%) and trauma (25%). Furthermore, it was concluded, that most of the dogs investigated had the lung inflammation (32%), which was 5% more than those with lung edema (27%). The latter was 16% more common than pleuritis (11%), pneumothorax (11%) and lung neoplasia (11%). Lung contusion was the least common (7% of the cases in accord with the subject of this master thesis, respectively). The evaluation of the frequency of the diagnostic methods applied revealed that the most significant methods in the lung and pleural diseases are a general clinical examination (100%), blood tests (64%) and the x-rays study (48%). Diagnostic methods had been applied to reveal the cause of the disease, to reveal the complexity of the disease, to evaluate the general status of the patient and in order to apply an effective treatment. The most common clinical symptoms were tachipnea, cough, shortness of breath, secretion from nose or mouth, crepitation and rales of lungs, anorexia, depression, exercise intolerance, coughing which relates with vomiting, retching, mucous cyanosis. In each case the medication was used as a method of treatment. To eliminate and stop the bacterial infection enrofloxacin, tylosin, amoxicillin and clavulanic acid were used. These are indicated for the treatment of pneumonia and pleuritis of various origins, also for the treatment of traumatic pneumothorax and lung contusion, used as an anti-bacterial background during the surgical interventions. To remove the excess fluid from the body, diuretics, for example, furosemide, were used in 45% of the cases. In order to manage the pain and inflammation processes in the organism, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, for example, carprofen, metamizole, or steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, for example, prednisone and dexamethasone, were used. The latter further inhibit immune reactions. To improve the overall body condition or to stabilize patient‘s condition, fluid therapy (73%) and oxygen therapy (45%) were used for the investigated cases. During the fluid therapy the electrolyte solutions, physiological solutions, glucose were used, but there are contraindications or this method must be strictly controlled in the cases of pulmonary edema and pleural effusion. Oxygenation was carried out in the oxygen chambers or using oxygen masks. Surgical treatment (14%) was used in the exceptional pneumothorax cases. Lung and pleural diseases affects one of the most important of organ systems, thus, possible outcomes includes both good and lethal. Out of the 44 lungs and pleural disease cases in dogs, 64% of the patients recovered and 36% died or were euthanized