Jorge Timothy, Heacock Elisa, Hargrove Joshua, Mai Wilfried
Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Section of Radiology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Department of Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania, Ryan Veterinary Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2025 May;66(3):e70034. doi: 10.1111/vru.70034.
A 4.5-month-old female intact Doberman was referred for acute on chronic gastrointestinal signs and acute lethargy, polyuria, and polydipsia. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed marked focal dilatation, thrombosis, and suspect phlebitis of the caudal vena cava (CVC; renal segment). The prehepatic CVC was not identified; however, an enlarged azygos vein was identified as cranial to the dilated vessel. The patient was humanely euthanized, and a necropsy confirmed congenital segmental aplasia of the prehepatic CVC with azygos continuation complicated by thrombophlebitis. While this vascular malformation has been documented in canines, this is the first reported case of concurrent thrombophlebitis.
