A boxer dog with chronic hypertrophic gastritis resembling Menetrier's disease in man

Abstract

Chronic hypertrophic gastritis in a 7-year-old Boxer dog is described. This gastritis resembles Menetrier's disease in man. The dog was emaciated, lethargic, vomiting and had a poor appetite over a 4-month period. There was anaemia, and the blood smear was characterized by hypochromasia, strong anisoplania and striking poikilocytosis. There was a protein loss and at a later stage of the disease, a hypoalbuminaemia. On gastroscopic examination the plicae gastricae were numerous and strongly marked; moreover, they were granulated with numerous small haemorrhages. Radiographically, the stomach had a marked folding, primarily at the greater curvature. The passage of contrast medium from the stomach into the duodenum was strongly retarded. The pathological findings included macroscopical folding caused by local gland cell hyperplasia in the body as well as the pylorus, foveolar hyperplasia and, in the fundus and in the corpus near the greater curvature, folding of the muscularis mucosae and the submucosa. A superficial gastritis was found particularly in the fundus and corpus, whereas the pyloric antrum showed a more diffuse inflammation.