Pathological Changes of the Skin and Liver in Three Cases of Canine Superficial Necrolytic Dermatitis

Canine superficial necrolytic dermatitis (SND) might be caused by nutritional deficiency mostly due to hepatopathy. However the associated hepatic lesions are varied among cases. Therefore, characterization of the concurrent hepatic lesions might be helpful to clarify the pathogenesis of canine SND. In this paper we described cutaneos and hepatic lesions in three cases of canine SND. The first case is an adult female Pomeranian dog. Grossly the liver showed characteristic diffuse nodular appearance. Microscopy revealed multifocal hydropic/glycogen degeneration of hepatocytes accompanying parenchymal collapse and regeneration of hepatocytes resulting in nodular accentuation of the liver. No significant fibrosis was observed. The diagnosis "vacuolar or glycogen hepatopathy" was preferable for the lesion. The second case is an 11-year-old, spayed female Maltese dog. The liver grossly showed nodular appearance as seen in the first case and was histopathologically diagnosed as vacuolar/fatty and hydropic/glycogen hepatopathy with moderate fibrosis and severe hemosiderosis. The third case is a 16-year-old castrated male mongrel dog. The hepatic lesion was diagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma. All three cases had characteristic SND gross skin lesions such as erosion, scaling and crusting, and their histological findings of the skin biopsies were also consistent with those of SND. The paw pads were most intensely affected in all cases. Hypoalbuminemia and elevation with value of alkaline phosphatase were evidenced in all three cases. Hypoaminoacidemia was seen in the first and second cases. No elevation of glucagon value was observed in our cases. The hepatic lesions of the first and second cases might be of same hepatic disorder. The third case might be the first canine SND case associated with hepatoceller carcinoma.