2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

Administration of immunosuppressive doses of prednisone is associated with significant increases in endoscopic mucosal lesion scores in healthy dogs. Lack of difference between groups could reflect Type 2 error due to the small number of dogs and wide inter-individual variation. Esophageal and gastric ulcers can develop during glucocorticoid therapy, with or without aspirin and omeprazole. Further evaluation in more dogs, with histology and COX1/2 immunohistochemistry, is warranted and ongoing. Dysphagia is a relatively common disorder in dogs and can result from an abnormality in the oral, pharyngeal, pharyngoesophageal, or esophageal phase of swallowing. The most common causes of dysphagia in dogs in a veterinary university hospital have not been determined, and the utility of videofluoroscopic swallow studies in this cohort of animals has not been comprehensively evaluated. Our goals were to retrospectively evaluate the most common causes of dysphagia in dogs and to determine associations between the animal's dysphagia and the signalment, clinical signs, diagnostic tests or diagnostic procedures.