Distal polyneuropathy after canine heartworm disease therapy complicated by disseminated intravascular coagulation.

A 3-year-old male Setter-type dog had a progressive distal sensorimotor polyneuropathy characterized by weakness, bilateral atrophy of distal appendicular musculature, and reduced response to tactile stimuli. The diagnosis of a distal axonopathy was supported by electromyographic findings of fibrillation potentials, positive sharp waves in distal limb muscles, and absence of evoked action potentials, myopathic changes of atrophic angular fibers, and myelinated nerve fiber depletion in distal parts of peripheral nerves. The neuropathy appeared 5 weeks after 38 days of heparin therapy for disseminated intravascular coagulation. The disseminated intravascular coagulation, a complication of thiacetarsamide therapy for heartworm disease, had resolved 40 days after the end of heparin therapy. The cause of the neuropathy was not determined.