Research Communications of the 24th ECVIM-CA Congress

PULMONARY HAEMORRHAGE SYNDROME (LPHS). S. Schuller 1 , S. Callanan 2 , S. Worrall 2 , T. Francey 1 , A. Schweighauser 1 , J.E. Nally 2 . 1 Bern University, Bern, Switzerland, 2 University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland Leptospiral Pulmonary Haemorrhage Syndrome (LPHS) is a severe form of leptospirosis, which has been increasingly recognised in humans and many animal species in the past 20 years. Patients with LPHS may develop rapidly progressive intra-alveolar haemorrhage, leading to high mortality. The pathogenic mechanisms of LPHS are poorly understood hampering the application of effective treatment strategies. Studies in humans and experimentally infected guinea pigs have demonstrated deposition of immunoglobulin and complement C3 in LPHS lung tissue in the absence of significant numbers of leptospires, suggesting that LPHS is, in part, caused by autoimmunity. The aim of this project was to describe the histopathologic features of LPHS in dogs and to investigate whether IgG and IgM deposition is present in affected canine lung tissue.