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Prospective study of the treatment of feline plasmacytic pododermatitis with doxycycline
Author(s) -
Bettenay S. V.,
Mueller R. S.,
Dow K.,
Friend S.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.152.18.564
Subject(s) - mount , allergy , medicine , veterinary medicine , immunology , computer science , operating system
could have potential use as a prognostic indicator in dogs with neoplasia. It is clear from the results of this study that serum haptoglobin concentration is raised in dogs with a variety of diseases and will, therefore, have low sensitivity and specificity if it were to be used as the primary diagnostic test for a particular disease. However, the value in assessment of the concentration of this analyte is in its non-specificity, and a raised level is a clear indication that a dog is not healthy. A serum haptoglobin assay should prove to be a valuable diagnostic tool providing evidence of an inflammatory or infectious process and especially useful for monitoring responses to treatment or assessing prognosis, just as monitoring for APPS in serum is an extremely valuable marker of disease in human medicine (Suffredini and others 1999). Further studies are required to determine whether haptoglobin monitoring can be used in a similar way in canine medicine.