A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF CANINE SENILE PLAQUES AND CEREBRAL AMYLOID ANGIOPATHY

Epidemiologic and morphologic features of canine senile plaques (SPs) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) were examined in 69 necropsied d ogs. Dogs having only SPs (diffuse plaques) frequently suffered from m alignant neoplasms, and their mean age was significantly lower than th at of dogs with CAA only. Morphologically, diffuse plaques showed wide distribution compared with amyloid plaques or CAA and were predominan tly concentrated in the frontal cortex. We were unable to find any sig nificant relationship between the severity of the SPs and individual a ge. These findings may indicate that the occurrence of canine SPs is n ot strictly associated with aging only and that additional factors are related to the occurrence of SPs, especially diffuse plaques.