A review of clinical and morphological aspects of prostate alterations in dogs

Abstract

Keeping in mind the necessity for more knowledge in the subject area, this study reviews the main disorders that can affect the prostate of dogs as a contribution for small animal practitioners. The human Literature refers to the dog as an experimental model in the study of prostatic lesions, especially for the benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatic carcinoma. The objective of these studies is to achieve more efficient and rapid diagnosis and new therapeutic alternatives for these disorders, mainly in veterinary geriatrics. This specialty has become more important in the last years, as also occurred in human medicine. Mainly associated with aging and hormone unbalance, prostate diseases are a common problem in adult and elderly dogs. The most frequent disorders are protatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasias (BPH) and carcinomas, which can often result in cysts, abscess and squamous metaplasia. Due to the similarity of c1injcal signs of these diseases, diagnosis should be based on information obtained by clinical exam of the animals, laboratory tests and image diagnosis.