Journal of Small Animal Practice • Vol 58 • July 2017 • © 2017 British Small Animal Veterinary Association 395 PAPER Journal of Small Animal Practice (2017) 58, 395–402 DOI: 10.1111/jsap.12647 Accepted: 5 November 2016; Published online: 1 March 2017 Canine pancytopoenia in a Mediterranean region: a retrospective study of 119 cases (2005 to 2013) P. S. Frezoulis*, E. Angelidou † , D. Karnezi*, I. L. Oikonomidis ‡ , M. Kritsepi-Konstantinou ‡ , D. Kasabalis § and M. E. Mylonakis* ,1 *Companion Animal Clinic (CAC-AUTh), School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 54627, Greece † Laboratory of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Animal Health Economics, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly , Karditsa, 43100, Greece ‡ Diagnostic Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 54627, Greece § Clinic of Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly , Karditsa, 43100, Greece 1 Corresponding author email: mmylonak@vet.auth.gr O BJECTIVES: To further clarify the causes of pancytopoenia and to investigate whether underlying cause or severity were associated with survival in an area endemic for vector-borne pathogens. M ETHODS: Retrospective review of medical records of 119 dogs with and 238 dogs without pancytopoenia. R ESULTS: Mixed-breed dogs and dogs younger than one year had higher odds of being pancytopoenic. The most common diagnoses included monocytic ehrlichiosis (n=42), leishmaniasis (n=28) and parvoviral enteritis (n=19). The mean white blood cell counts were lower in dogs with ehrlichiosis and parvoviral enteritis compared to dogs with leishmaniasis, while platelet counts were lower in ehrlichiosis compared to leishmaniasis or parvoviral enteritis. Total protein concentrations were lower in dogs with parvoviral enteritis compared to ehrlichiosis and leishmaniasis. Higher haematocrit, platelet and white cell counts were associated with better odds of survival. C LINICAL S IGNIFICANCE: Infectious diseases appear to be the leading causes of canine pancytopoenia in endemic areas; severe leukopoenia (ehrlichiosis, parvoviral enteritis), thrombocytopoenia (ehrlichiosis) and hypoproteinaemia (parvoviral enteritis), represented potentially useful disease-specific diagnostic determinants. The severity of pancytopoenia significantly affects the clinical outcome. INTRODUCTION Canine pancytopoenia is associated with a wide variety of causes including, but not limited to, infectious, neoplastic, immune- mediated diseases and drug-induced blood cell dyscrasias (Weiss 2003, Kearns & Ewing 2006, Weiss 2012). A thorough history and a systematic clinical and laboratory evaluation are therefore essential for a case-specific diagnosis (Kearns & Ewing 2006). To our knowledge, only a single retrospective study addressing the prevalence of pancytopoenia and the relative frequency of the underlying causes in dogs admitted to a veterinary teaching hospital in the USA has been previously published (Weiss et al. 1999). In that study, pancytopoenia was documented in 2·4% of the requested complete blood counts (CBC). Chemotherapy- associated pancytopoenia accounted for 46% of the cases, while infections (granulocytic ehrlichiosis/anaplasmosis, parvovirus infection, sepsis) were infrequently involved. However, it may be considered that, in canine populations residing in geographic areas endemic for infectious agents known to cause various cytopoenias, such as Ehrlichia canis and Leishma- nia infantum, the relative frequency of the diseases precipitating pancytopoenia could be different, which may have clinical impli- http://www.bsava.com/