Clinical, radiological and pathological features of 12 Irish setters with canine leucocyte adhesion deficiency

The clinical, radiological and pathological findings in 12 dogs with canine leucocyte adhesion deficiency (CLAD) from six litters are described. All t he dogs were younger than 15 weeks at admission, all had been febrile and 1 1 had been treated with antibiotics, Seven had been treated for omphalophle bitis. At admission, all had gingivitis, lymph node enlargement and profoun d neutrophilia, Ten dogs were radiographed and showed various skeletal lesi ons compatible with metaphyseal osteopathy, craniomandibular osteopathy and osteomyelitis, Four dogs had clinical signs of respiratory distress and se ven exhibited a mild interstitial pneumonia at necropsy. Six dogs had skin wounds, with strikingly few neutrophils seen on stained sections. All dogs were euthanased before six months of age due to severe and incurable infect ions. The clinical signs, radiological features and haematology were strong ly suggestive of CLAD, The diagnosis was confirmed by granulocyte function tests and flow cytometry, which revealed impaired adhesion, impaired C3b-me diated phagocytosis and absence of adhesion proteins CD11b/CD18.