Veterinary Parasitology 119 (2004) 209–221 Spirocercosis-associated esophageal sarcomas in dogs A retrospective study of 17 cases (1997–2003) Eyal Ranen a,∗ , Eran Lavy a , Izhac Aizenberg a , Shmuel Perl b , Shimon Harrus a a School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel b The Kimron Veterinary Institute, P.O. Box 12, Bet-Dagan 50250, Israel Received 23 July 2003; accepted 14 October 2003 Abstract Seventeen client-owned dogs diagnosed with spirocercosis-associated esophageal sarcomas were retrospectively reviewed. The most common clinical signs noticed were vomiting and/or regurgita- tion (94%), lethargy and depression (59%), pyrexia and anorexia (41% each). Leukocytosis (82%) and microcytic hypochromic anemia (30%) were the most common hematological abnormalities. Caudal thoracic masses were demonstrated on survey radiographs of 13/15 of the dogs and thoracic spondylitis was detected in 12/15 dogs. Spirocerca lupi eggs were detected in 2/8 patients and worms were demonstrated on 1/11 at necropsy. Ten cases underwent surgical attempt to remove the tumors. In six of them partial esophagectomy (PE) was performed and all of them survived the immedi- ate postoperative hospitalization. Five of the cases that underwent PE also received chemotherapy after surgery (doxorubicin (Adriamycin, Upjohn)) with an average survival time of 267 days. The histopathological results of the esophageal tumors were osteosarcoma (9), fibrosarcoma (5) and undifferentiated sarcoma (1). In areas endemic to spirocercosis, regurgitation or vomiting in dogs and microcytic hypochromic anemia and neutrophilia warrant ruling out esophageal sarcomas. Proper surgical treatment could prolong the dogs’ lifespan for months, and improve their quality of life. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Spirocercosis; Dog; Esophagus; Osteosarcoma; Fibrosarcoma; Surgery ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +972-3-9688549; fax: +972-3-9604079. E-mail address: ranen@agri.huji.ac.il (E. Ranen). 0304-4017/$ – see front matter © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2003.10.023