Objective: The incidence of tracheal collapse (CTCS) and congenital portosystemic shunts (CPSS) in Yorkshire Terriers is currently not understood. CPSS may reduce the likelihood of CTCS development which would be suggested if the observed prevalence of both conditions is lower than the predicted prevalence of both conditions (based on the observed prevalence of each individual condition in a given population of dogs). Study
Design: Retrospective, single institutional study Animals: Yorkshire Terriers with a diagnosis of CTCS, CPSS, or both seen at the Animal Medical Center (AMC) in New York City
Methods: The AMC medical record system was used to recruit all available Yorkshire Terriers. Data collected included patient DOB, sex, weight, date of last visit, and reported diagnoses of CTCS and/or CPSS. Medical records were reviewed to confirm diagnosis of CTCS or CPSS. Observed and predicted prevalences were compared statistically.
Results: 11,061 Yorkshire terriers were identified in the medical record system with age at last visit available in 7263 patients. The observed incidence of confirmed CPSS was 0.8% (93 dogs), confirmed severe CTCS was 6.7% (740 dogs), and both conditions was 0.05% (6 dogs). The median age at diagnosis of CPSS was 2.7yrs (1.0,5.7) and CTCS was 10.0 (8.0,13.0). When comparing the prevalence of each condition by patient age, the observed presence of both conditions was typically lower than the predicted incidence, however this was not significant (p=0.16).
Conclusions: Further investigation is needed to confirm is there is a link between CPSS and the development of CTCS in Yorkshire Terriers.
