Research Communications of the 24th ECVIM-CA Congress

The author received a travel scholarship from Zoetis to attend this congress. Acute arterial thromboembolism (AATE) occurs commonly in cats, and less frequently in dogs, mostly resulting in limb paresis or paralysis. Diagnosis is based typically on physical examination and advanced imaging. Diminished affected-limb peripheral blood flow induces changes in several analytes concentrations in affected limb venous samples, compared to their peripheral venous concentration. We hypothesized that in AATE, local, affected-limb venous glucose concentration decreases below reference interval, while systemic glucose concentration remains unaffected. The study included 3 groups for each species: paralytic AATE cases, non-ambulatory controls with limb paralysis of orthopedic or neurologic disorders, and ambulatory controls diagnosed with various diseases. Systemic and peripheral, affected-limb blood glucose concentrations were measured. Group absolute (DGlu) and relative (% DGlu) differences were compared. No procedure-associated complications or pain were noted. Peripheral blood glucose concentrations were decreased (P ≤ 0.006) only in cats and dogs with AATE. DGlu and %DGlu were higher in the AATE groups in both cats and dogs compared to their respective control groups (P < 0.0001, P < 0.001, respectively), with no differences between the control groups. Receiver operator characteristics analysis of DGlu and %DGlu as predictors of AATE in cats had areas under the curve of 0.96 and 1.00, respectively, and 0.99 and 1.00, in dogs, respectively. DGlu cutoffs of 30 mg/dL and 16 mg/dL, in cats and dogs, respectively, corresponded to sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 90% in cats, respectively, and 100% in dogs. DGlu and %DGlu are extremely accurate, readily-available, simple diagnostic markers of AATE in cats and dogs.