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Coronary Arteriosclerosis with Myocardial Atrophy in a 13-year-old Dog

Abstract

Myocardial ischemia, an uncommon cause of sudden death in dogs, usually results in infarction and fibrosis of the myocardium. Necropsy examination of a 13-year-old German Shepherd dog that died suddenly demonstrated multifocal myocardial thinning and loss in the left and right ventricular free wall and right atrium. Histopathologic examination confirmed the myocardial thinning to be sites of myocyte atrophy and loss, with loose reticulin-positive fibrovascular tissue and adipocytes and little fibrosis. Many intramural coronary arteries were irregularly thickened and partially occluded by segmental intimal and medial deposits of periodic acid–Schiff-positive, Congo red–negative amorphous extracellular material. This finding is consistent with hyaline arteriosclerosis. These vascular lesions likely lead to insufficient perfusion of the affected myocardium and gradual loss of myofibers without the acute necrosis and fibrosis characteristic of infarction.

Key words: Atrophy; dogs; hyaline arteriosclerosis; myocardium.

Request reprints from Dr. Kurt J. Williams, Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation, College of Veterinary Medicine, 210 Food Safety and Toxicology Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (USA). E-mail: williamsk{at}dcpah.msu.edu.