Peripheral and central venous blood glucose concentrations in dogs and cats with acute arterial thromboembolism.

Abstract

BackgroundAcute limb paralysis because of arterial thromboembolism (ATE) occurs in cats and less commonly in dogs. ATE is diagnosed based on physical examination findings and, occasionally, advanced imaging.Hypothesis/ObjectivesPeripheral, affected limb venous glucose concentration is decreased in ATE, whereas its systemic concentration is within or above reference interval.AnimalsClient‐owned cats and dogs were divided into 3 respective groups: acute limb paralysis because of ATE (22 cats and 9 dogs); acute limb paralysis secondary to orthopedic or neurologic conditions (nonambulatory controls; 10 cats and 11 dogs); ambulatory animals presented because of various diseases (ambulatory controls; 10 cats and 9 dogs).MethodsProspective observational, clinical study. Systemic and local (affected limb) blood glucose concentrations were measured. Their absolute and relative differences (ΔGlu and %ΔGlu, respectively) were compared among groups.ResultsΔGlu and %ΔGlu were significantly higher in the ATE cats and dogs groups, compared to both of their respective controls (P < .0001 and P < .001, respectively). No significant differences were observed between the control groups. Receiver operator characteristics analysis of ΔGlu and %ΔGlu as predictors of ATE had area under the curve of 0.96 and 0.99 in cats, respectively, and 1.00 and 1.00, in dogs, respectively. ΔGlu cutoffs of 30 mg/dL and 16 mg/dL, in cats and dogs, respectively, corresponded to sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 90% in cats, respectively, and 100% in dogs.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceΔGlu and %ΔGlu are accurate, readily available, diagnostic markers of acute ATE in paralyzed cats and dogs.