Correlación entre signos clínicos y hallazgos histopatológicos en perros con enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal de la ciudad de Cuenca - Ecuador

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between clinical signs and histopathological findings in dogs with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in order to identify patterns to enhance the diagnostic accuracy of the disease. Fifty-three dogs diagnosed with IBD by intestinal biopsy and histopathological confirmation in the city of Cuenca during the period 2022-2024 were analyzed. The age range was between 7 months and 12 years, with no predilection for sex or breed. The most frequent clinical signs were: vomiting (86.79%), diarrhea (69.81%), weight loss (64.15%), anorexia or hyporexia (58.49%), mucoid stools (56.60%), and hematochezia or melena (30.19%). At the histopathological level, villous shortening and widening was the predominant finding (58.49%), followed by goblet cell hyperplasia (49.06%), fibrosis (35.85%), crypt dilatation (18.87%), and necrosis (1.89%). The cellular infiltrate was lymphoplasmacytic in all cases (100%), and some presented a mixed cellular infiltrate. The severity of inflammation was mostly moderate or severe, with only one patient presenting mild inflammation. Statistical analysis revealed no significant correlations between clinical signs and histopathological findings; only nearly significant correlations were found. Nevertheless, correlations were observed between diarrhea, hematochezia or melena, fibrosis, number of clinical signs and number of histopathological findings with simultaneous involvement of both intestinal segments, and between age and the number of histopathological findings present in intestinal biopsies.