HEMOPHILIA-A IN THE DOG - SYMPTOMS, BLOOD -COAGULATION ANALYSIS AND THERAPY

In our patients, haemophilia A was observed in German shepherd dogs an d Siberian huskies. Frequently occuring clinical symptoms were excessi ve bleeding from the gums, when getting adult teeth, and haematomas in the regions of the proximal hindleg, the knee joint as well as the ch est or abdominal wall, respectively. The activated partial thromboplas tin time (aPTT) as a screening test of the intrinsic coagulation syste m reflects sensitively also a mildly reduced factor VIII:C activity wh ich may be present for example during substitution therapy. Therefore, the aPTT is well suited for screening for haemophilia A. In haemophil ic dogs suffering from hypovolaemic shock due to a considerable acute blood loss, besides the aPTT also the prothrombin time and partly the platelet number were beyond the respective reference range due to loss and consumption of coagulation factors and thrombocytes. For substitu tion therapy, fresh frozen plasma was used in the first line. Administ ered at a dose of 15 or 20 ml/kg BW, it caused an increase of factor V III:C activity by 20 or 33%, respectively. 24 hours after the end of i nfusion the mean of the remaining activity increase in comparison with the value measured immediately after substitution was 27%. The fast, biphasic elimination of factor VIII:C in some cases required a repeate d application until clinical recovery. Desmopressin acetate given at a dose of 1 mu g/kg KGW intravenously or subcutaneously to two dogs eac h did not cause a distinct increase of the factor VIII:C activity, and is, therefore, not an efficacious supplementary therapy to substituti on therapy in haemophilic dogs.