Peripheral Lymphadenopathy in Dogs: Differential Diagnoses

Ann Hohenhaus, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM, Oncology), The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, New York, New York

Internal Medicine

|January 2023|Peer Reviewed

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Following are differential diagnoses for dogs presented with peripheral lymphadenopathy.

Neoplastic
- Lymphoproliferative
  - Lymphoma
  - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
  - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
- Metastatic neoplasia (common causes)
  - Carcinoma (eg, mammary gland carcinoma, thyroid carcinoma, oral squamous cell carcinoma)
  - Sarcoma (eg, soft tissue sarcoma, histiocytic sarcoma)
  - Mast cell tumor
  - Melanoma (oral or digit)
Reactive
- Infectious
  - Systemic fungal infection
    - Blastomycosis (ie, Blastomyces dermatitidis)
    - Histoplasmosis (ie, Histoplasma capuslatum)
    - Coccidioidomycosis (ie, Coccidioides immitis)
    - Sporotrichosis (ie, Sporothrix schenckii)
    - Aspergillosis (eg, Aspergillus fumigatus, A flavus)
    - Pythiosis (ie, Pythium insidiosum)
  - Bacterial infection
    - Brucellosis (ie, Brucella canis)
    - Nocardiosis (ie, Nocardia spp)
    - Plague (ie, Yersinia pestis)
  - Vector-borne disease (coinfection is common)
    - Ehrlichiosis (eg, Ehrlichia canis, E chaffeensis, E ewingi, E equi)
    - Anaplasmosis (ie, Anaplasma phagocytophilum)
    - Neorickettsiosis (ie, Neorickettsia risticii)
    - Salmon poisoning disease (ie, Neorickettsia helminthoeca)
    - Bartonellosis (eg, Bartonella henselae,¹ B clarridgeiae, B vinsonii)
    - Rocky Mountain spotted fever (ie, Rickettsia rickettsii)
    - Leishmaniasis (eg, Leishmania infantum, L donovani)
    - Babesiosis (ie, Babesia canis)
    - Hepatozoonosis (ie, Hepatozoon americanum)
- Severe generalized pyoderma
  - Primary bacterial pyoderma
  - Secondary bacterial pyoderma
    - Atopy
    - Demodectic mange
    - Sarcoptic mange
    - Sebaceous adenitis
Inflammatory, noninfectious
- Cutaneous lupus erythematosus²
- Juvenile sterile granulomatous dermatitis and lymphadenitis (ie, juvenile cellulitis, puppy strangles)
- Adult-onset sterile granulomatous dermatitis and lymphadenitis (ie, juvenile cellulitis)³
Other
- Phenobarbital-induced pseudolymphoma⁴

References

Álvarez-Fernández A, Breitschwerdt EB, Solano-Gallego L. Bartonella infections in cats and dogs including zoonotic aspects. Parasit Vectors. 2018;11(1):624. doi:10.1186/s13071-018-3152-6
Olivry T, Linder KE, Banovic F. Cutaneous lupus erythematosus in dogs: a comprehensive review. BMC Vet Res. 2018;14(1):132. doi:10.1186/s12917-018-1446-8
Inga A, Griffeth GC, Drobatz KJ, Goldschmidt KH, Mauldin EA. Sterile granulomatous dermatitis and lymphadenitis (juvenile cellulitis) in adult dogs: a retrospective analysis of 90 cases (2004-2018). Vet Dermatol. 2020;31(3):219-e47. doi:10.1111/vde.12820
Lampe R, Manens J, Sharp N. Suspected phenobarbital‐induced pseudolymphoma in a dog. J Vet Intern Med. 2017;31(6):1858-1859. doi:10.1111/jvim.14818

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Peripheral Lymphadenopathy in Dogs: Differential Diagnoses

Ann Hohenhaus, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM, Oncology), The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, New York, New York

Internal Medicine

References

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